Phoenix
by Kurama no Miko2003
Summary: When Voldemort returns to power, the Reikai can no longer ignore his presence in the Ningenkai. In response, they send in the Reikai Tantei to investigate. But what happens will change the three worlds forever. Rated M for Shounen-ai: Hiei x Kurama
1. Spark

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings and Hiei x Kurama (Can't resist writing that one! =P)

AN: After reading a few good YYH/HP crossovers (namely, DemonUntilDeath's Keeping Quiet and JoIsBishMyoga's The Best Defense), and seeing a challenge posted on Forever Fandom, I have decided to have a go at crossing the two series. The story will be set in Year 5, and major changes will be made to accommodate the crossover. But no worries, I won't unnecessarily kill someone off. Sadly, I seem to have misplaced my hardcopy of Order of the Phoenix, and so I'm reduced to working with just chapter summaries. So, if I get some details wrong, please pardon me. On the YYH side, I'm setting it post-Dark Tournament, pre-Sensui.

Phoenix

Chapter 1: Spark

"Koenma-sama!" Jorge cried out from the other side of many stacks of paperwork on Koenma's desk. "Koenma-sama! Urgent message for you!"

"Yes, yes, Jorge, what is it?" a clearly annoyed junior god of hell snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy stamping papers?" Flip. Stamp. Flip. Stamp. Flip. Stamp.

"Sir, it's from Genkai!"

"Why didn't you say so sooner, Jorge?" Koenma hastily replied, turning to glare at the blue oni. "Where's the message?" Jorge quickly handed over the scroll, carefully gauging Koenma's reaction as the toddler deity's eyes flew down the writing. "Get me Botan!"

"Yes sir!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been a beautiful summer day, classes had just been let out for the summer, and all in all, Yuusuke could not think of a better way to spend that first glorious day than to go to the arcade for a few rounds of games. Happily walking down the street towards downtown, he instantly stopped and furrowed his eyebrows when he heard an all too familiar voice shout his name.

"Yuusuke! YUUU~SUKE!"

Looking around, it was clear that the person shouting his name was up in the air. Equally clear was that the no one else had heard the shout. Grumpily turning on a heel, Yuusuke turned around to come face to face with the frosty blue haired girl, who just so happened to be the Grim Reaper. "What does pacifier breath want _this_ time? Can't we have a break? School's finally out for the year; it's the first day of summer, and damn it, I want to go hang out at the arcade!"

"Sorry, Yuusuke, Koenma-sama sent me to say emergency meeting at the temple tonight. You guys have a new mission."

"Bah, school just got out and now you want me to go to the temple?" he grumbled as he turned to walk to the nearest train station. "Fine, fine, but the world better be in deep shit or I'm outta there."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama grinned as he glanced through the postings for the last round of exams for the year. As expected, he was first. A "Kaito Yuu" was listed as second, not that Kurama had much contact with the guy. All the redhead knew was that Kaito was a quiet guy, tended to sit in the back of the class, and wore glasses. Not a particularly attractive fellow either, in the kitsune's opinion. Other students, recognizing the redhead, quickly turned to offer their congratulations and admiration.

Once he managed to leave his admirers behind, the fox happily sauntered through town, stopping at a convenience store to buy a package of self-congratulatory Inari-zushi. As he sat down in the park to enjoy his well-deserved snack – he was, after all, a kitsune[1] at soul – he heard a distinctly female voice from the air shouting "Kurama-kun! Taihen de~su[2]!"

Looking up, he recognized Botan, dressed in her usual pink kimono, diving down on her oar. Noting that no one else in the park seemed to have notice the strange event, Kurama could only conclude that whatever the new issue was, it was urgent. Botan clearly did not have time to leave the Reikai with her usual mortal shell, which made her visible to normal, non-spiritually aware people. "Ah, Botan! Konnichiwa[3]!"

Catching her breath, Botan could only utter short sentences. "New case." Deep breath. "Meeting at the temple tonight." Another breath. "Get Hiei."

Kurama smiles in return. Closing his eyes, he felt a familiar presence not far away. "Hiei knows."

Smiling in return, Botan hops onto her oar, taking off to the sky once more.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kuwabara was grumbling as he sat in the first of his two weeks' worth of remedial lessons. Ever since he fought in the Dark Tournament, he had realized that no matter what happens from thereon, fighting was not going to be his only goal in life, and that if he wanted to get somewhere, he would need a real education. So, the day the four of them had returned, Kuwabara had gone and talked to Takenaka about his educational prospects. Takenaka, realizing that Kuwabara honestly wished to improve himself, suggested remedial lessons.

Which led Kuwabara to his current situation: Bored.

His sharp sixth sense, however, told him Botan was coming long before he heard her sharp yell, and he quickly raised his hand. "Sensei! I need to use the toilet!" The carrot-topped fourth member of the Reikai Tantei left the classroom before the teacher had the time to respond. He immediately headed for the roof, where Botan met him.

"Kuwabara-kun, new mission. Meeting at the temple tonight."

"Do we have any details for once?" Kuwabara asked, knowing what answer to expect, even though it was not one he was hoping to hear.

Botan shook her head. "Even I don't know this time; Koenma-sama said he would tell you the details when you guys meet up tonight."

"Alright. Gotta get back to class now. Can't afford to miss these remedial lessons if I want to pass this year." Again, it was the answer he was expecting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In a wholly different corner of the world, two men sat in a room, deep in conversation. The first was pale skinned and wore a long black robe. The other was tall, lanky with black hair slicked back. He wore a black t-shirt and form fitting black pants.

"And you, sir, believe that you can accomplish this task for me?" the first man asks, a snaky hiss creeping into his words.

"Most certainly. My companion should be more than up to the task. However, it will take us some time. We must find a proper . . . location in this country to perform the ceremony in. And even then, the ceremony will take time. The rest, though, is up to you." There was a distinctly doubtful tone in his voice.

"Do not doubt my ability to control others!" the first snapped, clearly picking up on the suggestion the first was making. "The English Ministry of Magic is in denial, and now is the time to strike. I have lost many followers over the years, but what better way to refill those ranks than with demons?"

The second man shrugged, as though he did not care what the first planned. "The world is rotten, and the rotten pieces must be cut away. So long as you accomplish that task, I care not for what you choose to do afterwards."

"Very well then, Mr. Shinobu," the first says, extending a pale hand, "I will send my best men with you while you travel the countryside looking for your proper location."

Shinobu does not reply, but took the pale, cold hand in a firm handshake as he stood to leave. Once outside, another man with long aqua hair joined him. "Itsuki, we leave in the morning."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry sat up in bed, an all too familiar ache spreading from his scar. _Another dream_, he thought as he hastily rose to grab his parchment and a quill. He quickly scribbles down what he remembers, something about a ritual at a particular location. The main point, though of the ritual was not lost on him: Voldemort wanted to replace his lost Death Eater ranks with demons. The very thought of that was enough to sicken him. What would happen to the world if Voldemort were to suddenly sweep through with an army of demons? The lives lost in such a massacre . . . and was there even a way to defend against it?

As Harry slowly pushed open the window to allow Hedwig to fly off into the night with his message, he desperately tried to push those thoughts to the back of his head. For now, he was home, with his rotten relatives, and, for the moment, vaguely safe.

To be continued . . .

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Here are some quick footnotes for this chapter:

1) In Shinto, kitsune are the messengers of Inari, the kami – or god – of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, industry, and worldly success. They can have up to nine tails and are said to be white. One of their favorite foods is aburage, fried sliced tofu, which are used in the aptly named dishes kitsune udon, kitsune soba, and Inari-zushi.

2) Botan: "… Taihen de~su!": Taihen means big trouble.

3) Kurama: "… Konnichiwa": A greeting used to greet someone after 11am and during the afternoon hours. I have seen this particular greeting misspelled many times, but this _is_ the proper romanization for it. In hiragana, it is written as: こんにちは: ko-n-ni-chi-wa. The hiragana は is read as "wa", instead of its usual "ha" in this context.

That's all for my notes, drop me a review!


	2. Embers

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings and Hiei x Kurama

AN: I'm sure many of you noticed I wrote Kuwabara a little differently than his usual characterization last chapter. This is intentional, as I believe if he was going to turn himself around and go for a more academic angle later on, the change has to happen early so he could have the opportunity to study for high school entrance exams to get into a good school. As I recall from the manga, Kuwabara actually goes to a fairly decent high school post-series. If nothing else, this suggests that Kuwabara, while overshadowed by his demonic allies, is actually quite smart and capable. It's just that he's "only" human, and is, therefore, forever left in the shadows.

Phoenix

Chapter 2: Embers

Kurama slowly walked up the temple steps, glad that the sun was finally setting. The heat had been unbearable all day, and he was happy that most of the trip to the temple had been in air conditioned public transportation. Looking down, he could only wonder what possessed the diminutive fire youkai at his side to keep his jet black cloak and scarf on. It was hot enough to cook a potato on the sidewalk this afternoon, for Inari's sake!

The fox deftly worked his way up the temple's hundreds of steps, enjoying the cool breeze that was finally drifting through the air. It wasn't long, though, before the peace was shattered by the sounds of fighting. No doubt Yuusuke and Kuwabara had arrived earlier and had gotten bored.

As the pair of youkai entered the temple, they saw Kuwabara trapped in a headlock – courtesy of Yuusuke, of course – and Yukina watching them with an amused smile on her face. Genkai sat in a corner, sipping her tea as she watched her dimwit student and oafish friend fight with little interest.

"Ah good, some real company," Genkai said, as she saw Kurama and Hiei approach.

"What was that Baachan?!" Yuusuke shouted as he began to rub his knuckles into Kuwabara's head.

"Konbanwa, Genkai-shihan," Kurama greeted, walking into the temple. Seeing Yukina return with two cups of chilled mugi-cha [1], Kurama smiled. "Arigatou, Yukina-chan." She returned his smile with a happy one of her own.

"Hn," Hiei grunted in response, although Kurama noticed it was gentler than his usual ones.

"Ah good, everyone's here," Koenma said as he walked out of a portal, Botan following close behind. "We have a new mission for you guys. Genkai?"

All eyes turned to Genkai, who was still quietly sipping her tea. "We are going to England." Four sets of eyes widen in surprise. What for? Why? Who? The questions swam in each of their heads as Koenma began to speak.

"A powerful dark wizard by the name of Voldemort has managed to regain a corporeal form. He is merciless, power-hungry, and would like to see nothing more than the entire non-magical population of the Ningenkai wiped out, in addition to those who are not descendants of wizarding families on both sides. We have been trying to capture him for the past fifteen years, after a spell of his backfired and separated his soul from his body, but his particular status as a low-powered wandering spirit made him difficult to track. It didn't help he was often resorting to using animals to mask his signature. As of about a month and a half ago, we have received reports from the Japanese Ministry of Magic that this dark wizard has revived."

For once, Yuusuke and Kuwabara had remained silent through the briefing. Now that it was over, though, Yuusuke opened his mouth to speak. "Wizards?" Doubt echoed through his voice.

"Yes, dimwit. Wizards."

"Like the ones in fairy tales and videogames?"

Another sip of tea. _'Yukina really knows how to make a good cup of tea!'_ "Yes, dimwit."

"I suppose it makes sense. If kitsune and youkai are real," he said, glancing at Kurama and Hiei, "then why not wizards too? What's the mission then?"

At this point, Genkai elaborated. "We are to go to the magic school Hogwarts," here, Yuusuke and Kuwabara burst out laughing at the ridiculous name, "and protect the student populace. There is one in particular you must protect, a boy named Harry Potter. Based on the file the Japanese Ministry of Magic sent me, he is of particular interest and importance to Voldemort. We are expected to be there as long as we need to. Given Voldemort's pattern of activity, we should expect to be there from this September to next May. You will miss approximately two and a half semesters of school2."

Kurama's crimson eyebrows were knitted together, his usually smiling face frowning. Noticing his friend's change in disposition, Kuwabara spoke, "What's wrong, Kurama?"

"Everything," the redhead responded. "How should I put this?" he paused, searching for the right words. "Wizards and youkai – which they call demons over there – never got along well. They had the ability to summon us, but they also believe that we are all like those weak D class and lower youkai. They assume that we are mindless killing machines, without thought, remorse, or feeling, and that we are merely servants to summon and dispose of at will. We will need to be extra careful with our disguises this time. A youkai of either my or Hiei's strength would be seen as an immediate threat and be executed with very little thought.

"Consider, then, what would happen if this Voldemort were to accidentally summon in a powerful youkai, one that is even stronger than, say, Toguro. With the kekkai [3] from the Reikai in place, it would be unable to return to the other side. It might rampage through the streets, killing innocents. Or Voldemort could strike a deal with such a youkai, making him unbeatable. We will need to nip this in the bud, and quickly."

"There are youkai stronger than Toguro?" Kuwabara meekly asked, processing the information.

"Che," Hiei started. "If Toguro were in the Makai, he'd be in the middle of the food chain. There are youkai in the Makai far more powerful than he."

"We are planning on sending you four, Yukina, and Botan as transfer students. Genkai will go as your 'professor' from your studies here in Japan."

"No. Yukina will not be going on such a mission," Hiei instantly protested.

"Then would you rather leave Yukina-chan unattended here?" Kurama calmly suggested.

Hiei only clenched his fists in response. There was no way he would voluntarily leave Yukina here, unprotected save for a few wards. It took him long enough to find her the first time. And leaving her with guards assigned by Koenma? As if. He barely trusted the junior deity as it was. No way would Hiei entrust such an important task to Koenma. After several moments of internal debate, Hiei relented. "Fine."

"Then you four are to come back tomorrow afternoon. You are to transfer in as the equivalent of first year high school students, and there is much you need to learn in the coming month and a half to at least appear competent in their school."

Kurama sighed, knowing that he needed an awfully good excuse this time around. Before he left, he asked, "Genkai-shihan, will I be able to contact my mother?"

Genkai looked at him, knowing what he meant. "Electronic devices will not work in Hogwarts, given the magical nature of the area. But, if you can get off of the school grounds, an appropriately adjusted cell phone and laptop should work."

Kurama instantly turned to Koenma. The look the kitsune gave the godling left no room for argument. If there was a way, he wanted it. And perhaps that might be enough to keep his secrets safe for a little while longer . . .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama gently unlocked the door, walking in to see his mother quietly reading a book in the living room. He idly twirled a rose in his fingers, thinking of the best way to start the conversation as he walked upstairs to his room when a small owl flew into the room, happily hooting as it circled Kurama's head. Kurama followed it with his eyes, puzzled until he noticed it held an envelope in its talons. It dropped the letter in front of the kitsune, whose sharp reflexes caught it before it hit the ground.

_Shuuichi Minamino_

_First bedroom on the left_

_123 Takahashi Street_

_Tokyo, Japan_ [4]

"This is curious," he murmured as he looks at the envelope. Clearly, the sender was missing a few marbles. The address wasn't only to his house, but to his bedroom. And it was delivered by an owl. _'Since when did owls deliver mail?'_

The owl had now taken to perching on Kurama's shoulder, gently nipping his ear while hooting quietly every once in a while. His kitsune bond to nature told him the owl wished for a treat. Absentmindedly, he tucks the rose back into his hair before wandering to the pantry, mind on the letter and the lie he was about to tell, and opens a small bag of beef jerky and breaks off a small piece to feed the bird. Kurama quietly padded back into his room to make sure the owl left before going downstairs to talk to his mother.

Entering the living room, he saw his mother look up from her book once more. Carefully taking a deep breath, Kurama opened his mouth to begin. "Kaasan, I have something I want to talk to you about."

To be continued . . .

Chapter's notes:

1) Cold mugi-cha: Chilled barley tea. It's absolutely delicious, and really easy to make. I find that it's absolutely wonderful on a warm day or after a work out. It's easy enough to find, and you should be able to find mugi-cha tea bags at your local Japanese grocery store.

2) Two semesters of school: The Japanese school year starts in April, goes until around mid-July, and then has a break for the hottest months of the year, starts up in September, breaks for the winter holidays, and then picks up again in January, and breaks in March for the spring holidays. Therefore, since the Harry Potter school year is the more familiar two semester system, it would overlap with approximately two and a half semesters of the Japanese school year.

3) Kekkai: As stated in the YYH manga, there is a barrier separating the Ningenkai and the Makai. As shown near the end of the Sensui (or Chapter Black) arc, it's a two-way barrier that prevents anyone – unless they are able to use seikouki, or the sacred ki – from crossing. Kurama (in his youko form) tests this with his hand and gets mildly burned for his trouble.

4) Kurama's address: Totally made up. =P

That's all for notes and my personal commentary, drop me a review!


	3. Half Truths

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings and Hiei x Kurama

AN: Slow, I know, but I need to get this exposition out of the way. Since I'm placing the Reikai Tantei into the Harry Potter universe, I've chosen to focus more on them at the moment. You'll see more of Harry and the others, but for now, I find the Reikai Tantei to be a bit more interesting. For those of you who are interested in why Kurama runs into a problem when he tries to tell her the truth, read my Kurama one-shot "Her Happiness". You'll find it in my profile. And many, many thanks to my beta, nairb85 for all of his help!

Phoenix

Chapter 3: Half-Truths

"Kaasan, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Minamino Shiori looked at her son, surprised at the serious tone in his voice. Something must be bothering him. "You can tell me anything son, you know that, right?"

Kurama nodded, and sat down. Silence filled the room as he struggled with himself to tell her about Youko Kurama. But the words, as he had tried before every long mission, simply would not come. Regretfully, the kitsune settled for the lie instead. "I want to participate in a study abroad program. There is a new exchange program at school, and it ranges from one year to three. The school is in England."

Shiori gave it some thought. The uncomfortable silence told her motherly intuition that there was more at play here than just a simple foreign exchange program. She knew for a fact that Meiou Shinritsu Gakuen did _not_ have a foreign exchange program. And thus, for the first time in fifteen years, she called her son on a lie. "I know that your school doesn't have an exchange program. What's really going on?"

Kurama gritted his teeth at that. He had been hoping to talk his way through this, but given the way things were, he couldn't just tell her about Youko Kurama. He tried again, but the words refused to come. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he could not just say it. So he decided on a half truth instead. "Kaasan, I've recently started working for a detective agency of sorts. There's a new case that's taking us to England."

"Can't they send someone else?" The concern in her voice was evident. Her son was only fifteen after all.

Thinking fast, the kitsune decided that maybe he could talk her out of pressing for details. "No, mother, they can't. It's a small agency, only four of us, but they need us all there. I have to go there."

"Why?" His mother was rapidly getting frustrated. What was it that he could not tell her? "What aren't you telling me, Shuuichi?"

"I-Kaasan, it's not a normal detective agency. They . . . they investigate paranormal activities."

His mother gave him a very skeptical look. Paranormal activities? Since when did her son take an interest in the paranormal? "Shuuichi . . ."

"No kaasan, I'm not lying," at that, Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a rose. "See?"

"Shuuichi, now is not the time for practical jokes. You obviously must have clipped that flower to your back earlier."

"Watch, kaasan." Kurama simply held up the rose and concentrated. Before Shiori's very eyes, the thorns began to shrink. "They need me to go to England because our boss has reason to believe that there is paranormal activity going there that will threaten the world. I am one of the few people who can fight. I didn't tell you sooner because I didn't want you to worry." The last part came out as little more than a mumble. Kurama knew Shiori had been getting angry at him, and simply let his voice trail off, lowering his eyes to the ground. He did not have the heart to see the emotions that were undoubtedly coursing through her eyes.

"Sou ka," she softly said, her voice so low that a normal human would have barely heard her. "Is that why you've been gone so often recently?"

No response. The kitsune simply nodded, keeping his gaze focused on a nonexistent spot on the carpet.

"How long have you known?"

"A long time," Kurama replied. It was the truth . . . in a way.

"Is that why you took martial arts classes?"

Another nod.

"Is that how you met Urameshi-kun and the others?"

"Yes. We all work for the same detective agency." Pausing for a moment, Kurama added, "I'll also be gone a lot the next month and a half before we leave too. We need to do some preparatory work ahead of time."

Sensing that her son had little else to tell her, she replied, "I see. Good luck with that, son." At that, Shiori walked up to Kurama and gave him a hug.

Kurama returned the hug, but could not help but feel empty on the inside. Here was a golden opportunity for him to tell her the truth about himself, about Youko Kurama. And yet, he could not tell her. The words once again escaped him. A little while later, he returned upstairs to his room, where he opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. Fortunately for him, he paid attention in English class . . .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kuwabara arrived home that night to find his sister in the kitchen making dinner as usual. "Oi, neesan! I've got a new mission. Koenma's sending us to England; I'll be gone for almost a year."

Shizuru sighs, knowing that Reikai involvement meant something big was happening. As Kuwabara filled her in on the details, a lone owl flew in, dropped the letter on Kazuma's head before landing on the kitchen counter, hooting as though it was proud of itself of a job well done. Eikichi, being the cat he was and hearing what could be dinner flying in, enters the kitchen, searching for the source of the scent. The owl thought better of staying, and quickly left before the calico cat could figure out how to best capture the tasty morsel.

Kazuma muttered something about Koenma being cheap and playing practical jokes as he unseals the letter and begins to read.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yuusuke arrived home that night to find his mother passed out in front of the television, drunk as usual. He sighed, knowing that he was going to be gone for almost a year and she would barely even notice. He hastily wrote a note for her and left it on the coffee table before heading out again._ 'Some days, it's just not worth it to go home.'_

He was about to go to sleep when he remembered his promise to Keiko at the Dark Tournament. Given how long he would be gone this time, he thought it better to go talk to her now. Pulling his shoes on once more, he checked his watch. _'Yeah, the Yukimura Diner should still be open at this hour.'_

The short walk in the brisk night air helped him to forget about his troubles at home. As he walked in, the Yukimuras greeted him warmly and offered to pour him some tea. "Naw, it's ok, where's Keiko? I wanted to talk to her about something."

"She's upstairs," Mrs. Yukimura answered. While she knew Yuusuke was a bit of a delinquent, she also noticed that the young man was maturing, albeit slowly, and was being more sincere towards Keiko. Perhaps he's a bit of a diamond in the rough. Ok, very, very, rough, but she could see that he had potential. Now, if there was only someone to provide the proper motivation . . .

Yuusuke quietly walked up the stairs to the apartment above the restaurant, where the Yukimuras lived. Knocking on her room, he said, "Keiko, it's Yuusuke."

The sound of running footsteps reached his ears as Keiko ran to open her bedroom door. "What is it?"

"I have a new mission. I'll be gone for a year this time," Yuusuke said.

"That long?" Keiko replied, unsure of how else to respond.

"Some big-shot evil wizard everyone thought was dead came back a month and a half ago. We're being sent to England to help stop him and to protect kids at some magic school there."

Keiko's eyes were filling with tears. Running around Japan to fight youkai, she could deal with. Going off to fight in some tournament where everyone wanted to see him dead, she slowly came to terms with. She had blocked some of the nastier fights out of her mind, and needed a lot of help from Shizuru to come to terms with it, but she eventually did come to terms with it. It helped that the really nasty opponents usually wound up dead too. But England? It was half way around the world!

Seeing that look in her eyes, Yuusuke replied. "If it wasn't absolutely important, Koenma wouldn't be sending us all the way out there." He paused, and then thought better of that statement. "Ok, maybe he would, but the truth is, I doubt he'd make up stuff about this big shot evil wizard that sounded like he got pissed because he got molded over or something. He wants to go kill all the non-magic using people in the world, Keiko. He won't stop at England; people like him don't stop until he's taken over the world. He's even willing to summon a youkai army to do it for him."

"I, I know, Yuusuke," Keiko said, understanding why he needed to go. "I just wish it wouldn't be so far away or for so long!" Her tears overflowed as she buried her face in his chest. "And you just got back from that horrible tournament too!"

As he rubbed circles on her back, Puu fluttered over with an envelope in its beak. "Puu!" the Spirit Beast said as it dropped the letter into Yuusuke's outstretched hand.

"I'll leave Puu here with you, ok?" Keiko would only nod into his chest in response. "And I won't be leaving right away. I'll be at the temple with Genkai preparing and you can come visit us, ok?" Again, another nod.

Looking at the cute little Spirit Beast, he waved it over. Obediently, it flew to Yuusuke, who grabbed its head before suddenly pulling back from Keiko. As he plunked it solidly into her arms, he instructed, "Now Puu, I want you to protect Keiko with your life, you hear? You're supposed to be a part of me, so I fully expect you to be able to do that, alright?"

The little creature puffed up its chest as it answered with a very manly "Puu!" Or, well, as manly as it could get for being a cute blue phoenix hatchling with a tuft of black hair on its head.

To be continued . . .

No notes this time around! Sorry for the rushed nature of things, but I wanted to get to the plot sooner! Leave a review!


	4. Summer

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Hiei x Kurama

AN: Let's pick up the pace a little, shall we? And a little fluff for our favorite youkai couple! Just to keep things simple, I'm going to give them intelligent translators, so none of that computer-style translating going on. And thanks again to my beta, nairb85!

Phoenix

Chapter 4: Summer

The past month and a half flew by in a flurry of lessons on spells and history. While Yuusuke and Kuwabara fell asleep through the history lessons, they were most certainly awake for the practical spell lessons. Genkai had been, as expected, a grueling and harsh teacher, and who knew she had a supply of training wands sitting around? One of the first lessons they were taught was in how to control their ki. "Magic in the Western sense," she had said that first day she started their training, "is merely using a talisman to amplify a person's ki. The spell simply a command to the talisman to do what the person wished. As a result, very little ki is needed to get the desired result, and the first lesson they must learn is to control their ki. Send in too much ki at once, and you're liable to break the wand, especially one that is not yours."

That first day was a bit of a disaster, as Yuusuke destroyed two practice wands – small sticks of ki-sensitive wood that broke when two much was put into it - before Genkai sent him to the back of the temple to train on reducing the power of his Reigun to the point where it would not bend a simple blade of grass. The blade, of course, was supplied by Kurama, so as to allow it to sit perfectly straight in the wind and to allow exact measurement of how much the blade of grass moved. It took Yuusuke two weeks before he could master the feat.

Then there was the issue with the spells. The pronunciation of those names was almost impossible to the native Japanese speaker, and the wands would recognize the command half the time. This led to a great deal of frustration on Yuusuke and Kuwabara's part; Hiei and Kurama, on the other hand, as a result of their knowledge of a large variety of ancient languages, had relatively little trouble. After all, it did a professional thief no good to go breaking into a vault only to find that you had mangled the pronunciation of the password or phrase and set off every trap behind the door and destroyed the valuables inside.

Yukina and Botan were utterly worn out by Genkai's grueling schedule, but the girls were resilient and adapted fairly well. Perhaps it was due to her nature as a healer and a Koorime, but Yukina had managed to master a few advanced ice and healing spells too. Kuwabara had been very proud of her that day, and Hiei had even congratulated her, saying that now she would have other means of defending herself.

And so, by the time it was time to leave, six tired teenagers (or so four of them appeared, anyway) and one short old sensei prepared to leave. They all packed up, making sure they each had their letters, which turned out to be official letters from this Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Magic for school supplies, and were pleasantly surprised to meet Koenma in the courtyard.

"One last thing before you go," teenage Koenma said. He held out a box and removed the lid. "They're translators."

"Thank you, Koenma-sama!" Botan shouted, hugging her employer. Koenma looked mildly uncomfortable, a light blush dancing on his cheeks. Inside, there were two stud earrings, two bracelets, and two necklaces.

"There are six of them, in three different styles. They have to touch skin to work," Koenma explained. The two girls each grabbed a bracelet, taking turns putting them on each other. To their surprise, the bracelets shrank to accommodate their slender wrists. The four guys looked at each other, two silently wondering which of the remaining items would leave them with most of their masculinity intact.

Hiei and Kurama shrugged at each other before they both reached for an earring. Walking off to the far side of the room for a little privacy, Kurama further inspected it. Seeing that they were for pierced ears, Kurama pulled a thin pointed stem from his hair before pausing to whisper, "Which ear, Hiei?"

"Right." The answer came without hesitation.

"You sure? There are certain . . . connotations in the Ningenkai regarding a piercing in that ear[1]," Kurama replied. "They're not taken lightly either."

Hiei shrugged in response. "The only person who matters knows; who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"

Kurama gave a small smile as he replied, "I suppose that is true." He gently took Hiei's right earlobe and pierced it. A quick glance told him that Yuusuke and Kuwabara were still whining about the necklaces they were stuck with and had the others sufficiently distracted to avoid giving the two of them any attention. The kitsune bent over and gave the hiyoukai's gently bleeding ear a gentle suck to stop the bleeding before taking the earring in his hand and putting it on.

Hiei took the small stem from Kurama's hands before gently pulling the kitsune down to return the favor. "Which side, Kurama?"

The kitsune gave a bright smile in return. "Right, of course."

Hiei gives a small smile as he pierces Kurama's ear. Gently sucking on it to stop the bleeding, the fire youkai put the earring on Kurama before brushing the youko's lips with a quick kiss.

"C'mon, let's go," Genkai says. "The Ministry of Magic official has just arrived with our Portkey."

A clean cut man with a briefcase in one hand walked up to them, bowing low before Koenma and giving another bow – albeit less low[2] – to Genkai. "This briefcase will be your ticket to Diagon Alley in London, England," he began. "Inside are also various pieces of information regarding this mission, including the information for your joint bank account. Consider the money advance payment for your services. We would also like to remind you that we officially have no knowledge how youkai managed to slip through our network and that we only sent seven humans to Hogwarts."

There was no mistaking the meaning behind _that_ last statement. It was clear that should anyone broadcast the truth about Hiei, Yukina, and Kurama, they were up a creek without a paddle. At least, as far as governmental assistance is concerned.

"There is also your official Japanese Ministry of Magic papers inside. Do not lose them; they are your form of identification in the wizarding world over there. The papers also state that the eyes of Jaganshi Hiei, Koorino Yukina, and Ueno Botan are brown."

"Yes, yes," Genkai mutters as she walks up to the three. "Red eyes, or any shade close to it, are considered demonic in England. They've got their underwear in such a knot over there that your eyes alone are going to cause trouble to the mission. Learn the incantation well!" She muttered something low to the three and their eyes changed from red – pink in Botan's case – to a far "safer" brown. Kurama could only sigh in disappointment. He'd miss those ruby orbs staring back at him for the rest of the mission. _'Damn these humans and their prejudices,'_ the kitsune thought.

"Good luck on your mission. We expect to hear back from you."

"Grab on tight to the briefcase and your belongings," Genkai instructed, "wouldn't want to lose one of you before the mission even started."

They all huddled around the briefcase, each holding on to a section. A few moments passed, and they all suddenly had a sensation of being pulled by their navels. It had been close to nine in the evening when they left Genkai's temple, but it was clear that it was early afternoon, maybe just after lunch in this strange place. Genkai sighed as she handed the briefcase off to Yuusuke as they all hauled their bags. She stopped at a place called The Leaky Cauldron and walked in.

"Hello there, good sirs and ladies, what can I do for you today?" the barkeep cheerfully greeted as the seven weary travelers walked into the tavern.

"Four rooms," Genkai immediately replied. "For two nights."

"Ah," the barkeep responded, as though he knew exactly what to expect. "Your rooms have already been prepared. Rooms 101-104, just go upstairs and to the left." He slid seven keys onto the counter, 1 pair each for rooms 101 to 103 and a single key for room 104. Genkai took the key for 104, the girls took a key each for room 103, Hiei and Kurama shrugged as they each took a key for 102, leaving Kuwabara and Yuusuke to share room 101. "Breakfast starts promptly at 8am, ends at 10am. Bathrooms are communal, separate ones for men and women on opposite ends of the hall[3]."

They wearily trudged up the stairs, keen on dropping off their luggage. They all met downstairs fifteen minutes later. "Now what?" Yuusuke asked, yawning.

"Now we go shopping. First stop, Ollivander's."

To be continued . . .

Notes for this chapter:

1) Piercing the right ear: Based on a little research I did on wikipedia, men who pierce only the right ear are supposedly "advertising" that they are homosexual. Kurama would know this as a result of "growing up" in the Ningenkai, but I see Hiei as one to _not care_ that he was broadcasting this. Whether I opt to make this a huge deal is up in the air.

2) Difference in bows: How low a person bows in Japanese culture is a sign of respect. Therefore, it makes sense that the Ministry official, having contact with the Reikai and would therefore know Koenma's position, to bow lower to Koenma than Genkai. Despite his toddler and somewhat immature ways, he _is_ a deity after all.

3) Internal description of the layout of The Leaky Cauldron: I'm not sure if JKR ever described the "inn" portion of The Leaky Cauldron, so I am making this up. If, however, she does, please let me know (preferably nicely!) in a review, and I will correct this.

That's all for notes this chapter, leave me a review!


	5. Wands, Books, and Robes

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Hiei x Kurama

AN: About the wands: I discovered, while poking around on the Harry Potter wiki, that JKR had used birth dates and the Celtic tree zodiac to determine which wood was used to make each character's wands. Imagine my annoyance when I discovered that there were no listed birthdays for our beloved Reikai Tantei! So what I did instead is read through a description of each tree (I used www . novareinna . com / constellation / celtic . html – remove the spaces to check it out for yourself!) and matched them as best as I could to each character's personality.

Phoenix

Chapter 5: Wands, Books, and Robes

"Now we go shopping. First stop, Ollivander's." Genkai calmly strolled out onto the Diagon Alley side of the pub and calmly led the four boys and two girls to a shop. "Ollivander's Wands: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B. C." the sign read.

As the small group entered the shop, a small bell on the door jingled, and Mr. Ollivander looked up from a large book on a pedestal. "Ah, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen." Looking down, his eyes sparkled with recognition as he saw Genkai. "Ah, Miss Genkai, it has been many years since we have last met. I hope your wand is treating you well. Birch, seven inches, unicorn tail hair, right?"

Genkai smirked in return. "Your memory for wand sales never ceases to amaze me, Ollivander. Now then, I have six students here who are in need of wands."

"So this was the group you had wands ordered for in advance," Ollivander scanned the group. Looking to Kurama, he said, "Let's start with you, miss." Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Genkai had to stifle a giggle as Hiei gave Kurama a look that clearly read "You asked for it". Yukina and Botan gave Kurama pitying looks. Kurama simply looked annoyed. Seeing the group's response, Ollivander asks, "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Kurama curtly replied. "I happen to be a man, not a girl."

"Oh! My apologies, it's just with the hair . . ." Ollivander's explanation trailed off at the exasperated look Kurama gave him.

"Yes, yes, I get that a lot," Kurama dismissively replied, waving his hand to show he was mostly not offended by the confusion. "Now, what was that about a wand?"

"Oh right! The wand," Ollivander strode over to Kurama and made some measurements. "Ah, yes, so you are one of the ones who needed a custom wand. Your unique . . . make up makes it difficult for a standard wand to behave appropriately." A round of snickers twittered from Yuusuke and Kuwabara as Ollivander said "make up". A sharp glare from Kurama's eyes got them stop plenty fast. Hiei merely looked on with amusement. Ollivander walked to the back of the shop and returned with four boxes. He takes the first box and hands it to Kurama. "Go on, open it."

Kurama takes the box with mumbled thanks. Inside, sitting on deep green velvet, was a wand. The handle was shiny silver, with the rest of the wand in lively green. Carefully taking it out of the box, Kurama gently reached out with his youki, as Genkai had been teaching them all summer, and gave the wand a gentle flick. The wand warmly responded to its wielder and a handful of red rose petals fluttered down from the ceiling, filling the room with the sweet scent of fresh roses.

"Thank you for sending the materials ahead of time. As requested by the measurements you gave and additional information presented to me by Miss Genkai: twelve inches, reed, with hair from a Japanese silver fox demon soaked in rose oil. Silver handle to facilitate your unique status. Great for transmutation work."

Turning to Botan, he handed her the next box. "This one, miss, is yours."

"Thank you," Botan replied. Inside, a normal looking wand sat on black velvet. Unlike Kurama's, hers was a simple stick of wood. She takes it out and gives it a gentle swish. A happy stream of bubbles surrounded the ferry girl as she cheerfully went about popping them with her wand.

"I was surprised to hear that someone of your status would be in need of a wand. But given the dangerous times, I only hope you are here to reduce your workload. Nine inches, mistletoe, hair from a thestral. Great for casting charms." Turning to the twins, he handed them matching boxes, save for the clasp on the box. The one he handed Yukina was blue, and the one he handed Hiei was black.

Yukina took hers first, and opened it to find that her wand resting on deep blue velvet and, like Kurama's, it also had a silver handle. She gave it a gentle swish and soon, there was a gentle shower of ice crystals surrounding Yukina. She stood, mouth open in surprise and happiness as she watched the crystals fall. Kuwabara could only stare wide eyed at her and blush; she looked every bit the elegant and gentle Koorime she was.

Hiei had to hide a small smile as he watched his sister's reaction to her wand. Opening his box, he found his wand nestled in deep red velvet. Its handle, like Yukina's and Kurama's, was also wrapped in silver. Grasping the wand, he gave it a curt flick. Flames danced on the tip of the wand as it recognized its master.

"Yes, yes, such an interesting pair of wands. It took me a while to find a suitable hawthorn tree for these. For some reason, these two had to be made from wood from the same tree. The one that young lady is wielding is eight inches, with a core of unicorn tail hair. The young man there has its brother wand, eight inches, with a core of dragon heartstring, good for dueling." If anyone picked up on the truth behind that statement, no one mentioned it.

Looking at the remaining members of the group, he smiled. "You two get to go about getting your wand the usual way." Sizing up Kuwabara, Ollivander indicated to him to stand forward. "Hold out your arms for me." Kuwabara, looking somewhat confused, did as asked. Quickly, Ollivander takes a series of measurements while muttering a quick string of conclusions under his breath. Once finished with the measurements, Ollivander shuffled into the back of the shop and a few moments later, he returned with several boxes.

"Now then," Ollivander said, handing Kuwabara a wand, "give this one a try." Kuwabara took the wand, and imitating the others before him, gave the wand a quick swish. The wand shot out of his hand and squarely planted itself in the far wall.

"I, uh, didn't mean to do that," the tall carrot-head stammered.

"Not a problem, young man, happens all the time," Ollivander smoothly replied. Handing Kuwabara another wand, he asked, "How about this one?" This one sent up angry red sparks in the teenager's face, almost setting the teen's hair on fire. "Ok, not that one either."

Setting that wand aside, Ollivander hands Kuwabara a third wand. Knowing the routine by now, Kuwabara swished the wand; to his surprise, the wand sent a warm wave up his arm before sprouting a white lily from the tip. Much to Hiei's annoyance, Kuwabara happily offered the flower to Yukina. "Thirteen inches, holly, with a core of dragon heartstring."

Turning to Yuusuke, Ollivander instructed him to hold out his arm and proceeded to measure the Reikai Tantei in the same manner as Kuwabara. Moving to the back of the shop, Ollivander once more returned with an armload of boxed wands. After trying several wands – the first wrenched itself from Yuusuke's hands and hit him on the nose, the second nearly put a hole in the ceiling of Ollivander's shop when it let off an energy blast, and the third simply refused to react – Yuusuke finally encountered one that seemed to like him well enough: a ten inch, Rowan and Phoenix feather wand.

After paying for their purchases – Kuwabara had insisted on apologizing profusely once more for the mess he had made – Genkai steered the group over to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Once inside, the group curiously looked around. The shop was mostly empty, save for one seemingly cranky platinum blond British teenager who was getting fitted for a robe.

"Damn it, woman, watch what you're doing!" the boy screamed, as he turned around.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but if you would just-"

"Argh!" the teen screamed again, interrupting the witch helping him. The witch continued to mutter her apologies and urged the boy to stay still.

A second witch had spotted the newcomers, and quickly walked over to greet them. "Welcome to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions."

"We need robes for my students," Genkai said, indicating the seven standing behind her, "suitable for Hogwarts."

"Very well, then. If you, miss," here, the witch began to direct Kurama over to a small raised platform, "would like to step over here, we will begin fitting you your new robes right away."

Annoyance bubbled its way to the surface as Kurama's left eyebrow twitched. He gave the witch an exasperated glare before reply, "I'm sorry, miss, but I think you're mistaken about me."

The witch flushed as she looked down at Kurama's chest and recognized her mistake. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir," she stammered, "please step right over here." Every word of the incident had been captured by the British teen's ears, and he took this opportunity to let out loud peals of laughter. Kurama found himself checking that the platinum blonde boy was indeed human, and thus, unless the kitsune wanted to find himself back in Reikai prison, was off-limits for slaying.

And so it was that the rest of the robe measurements went smoothly. They had settled on getting three sets of black robes each, along with four sets of uniforms [1].

"Man, why do we have to do up these shirts? I feel like I'm being suffocated!" Yuusuke whined from the dressing room as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Yeah," Kuwabara chimed in as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"It isn't that bad," Kurama replied, preening in front of the mirror of the fitting room. He had tried on the entire uniform, with a black tie [2]. To him, after the mandarin collars of his preferred battle uniforms, a collared shirt and tie was nothing new. _Not bad, if I may say so myself. Now Hiei, on the other hand . . . _ Needless to say, Kurama was lost in his thoughts for a while, entertaining himself with various . . . classroom-related fantasies.

Hiei stepped out of his dressing room looking rather smart in his dress shirt and pants. He stopped in front of the mirror to check that he, at least, looked respectable as he buttoned up the shirt cuffs. A stray image entered the Jaganshi's mind – it involved getting bent over desks and getting intimate –as he turned to inspect his reflection from the side. "Stupid fox," he muttered under his breath with a small smile. No doubt the fox would want to have some fun tonight.

Any further thoughts on a certain youko trapped inside a hormonal teenager's body, though, were quickly whisked away as the girls stepped out of their dressing rooms with their uniforms on. "Yukina-san!" Kuwabara shrieked, shaking Kurama out of his X-rated daydreams, "you look positively adorable in that uniform!"

That quickly earned the carrot-topped human a Death Glare – the kind that would have killed a lesser being at no less than five hundred paces – from Hiei. "Hiei," Kurama quietly said under his breath, "remember she'll be wearing her witch's robe over it. Besides, it's much longer than the ones the girls at Meiou Shinritsu Gakuen." Kuwabara, though continued to fawn over the short girl, ignoring the look Hiei was giving him.

"Awww, isn't that cute," Yuusuke said with a chuckle. Dropping his voice, the Detective looped an arm over Hiei's shoulder and continued in a low voice, "Overprotective brother much?"

Hiei whirled around on his heels, grabbing the front of Yuusuke's shirt, directing another Death Glare in his direction. "And just _what_ did you intend to do, should the oaf or Yukina have overheard you?"

Yuusuke's response was to chuckle more as he wrestled himself out of the hiyoukai's grip to change back into his normal clothes. The rest followed suit, and the witch that had been helping them instructed them to return tomorrow for their robes.

"So, what's left?" Botan asked as they left the shop.

"School supplies and your textbooks," Genkai replied, leading the way towards Flourish and Blotts.

The bookstore, was, as usual, bustling with students, their parents, and the general wizarding public looking to find the latest books on the goings-on of the world. Standing at the entrance, the two teenage humans, along with the three youkai could only stare as their eyes swept over dozens of floor to ceiling bookshelves that filled the store.

"And just how are we supposed to find what we need in this maze?" Yuusuke impatiently asked.

Genkai glanced back at her apprentice with a look of annoyance. "Read the signs, dimwit." Sure enough, about three quarters of the way up the book shelves, there were fluttering signs labeling what type of books was in that section of the store. One sign on the far left of the bookstore read "Hogwarts Required Texts". Moving over, they found that a section of three the bookshelves held the necessary titles for each of the seven years of school at Hogwarts.

Pulling out his book list, Kurama scanned the shelves, searching for the section for fifth year studies. Grabbing a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, he looked around for the other books that he would need. As they searched the shelves for the electives they would need, Kurama remembered how difficult it had been to get Yuusuke to pick anything.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"_Electives?" Yuusuke asked, clearly displeased with the prospect of having to choose more classes._

"_Yes, dimwit, now _choose_ before I choose for you," Genkai impatiently replied. Kurama was calmly reading the descriptions of the five courses available when Yukina spoke up._

"_Oh, Hiei-san! They have a class here about how normal humans live," Yukina happily chirped. "Maybe we should take it together!" She turned to Hiei with a bright smile on her face._

_Kurama looked over to Hiei, who outwardly held a passive expression, but the slight twitching of the Jaganshi's right eyebrow told the kitsune otherwise. The little fire youkai was clearly torn between his dislike for humans in general and wanting to please his twin sister._

_Yuusuke took the opportunity to chime in. "Yes, Hiei, why don't you take the class with her? You would just _love_ to take the class with her so you can better fit into human society, right?" It was clear that Hiei wanted nothing more than to give the Spirit Detective a sound beating to say otherwise, but one glance at Yukina's expectant gaze was more than enough to get the otherwise stubborn fire youkai to cave in._

"_All right, I'll take it with you."_

"_Thank you, Hiei-san!" Yukina happily cheered, going back to looking through the list._

"_Hmm, it would be so interesting to take all of these classes," Kurama muttered under his breath. Yuusuke and Kuwabara simply stared at him. "What? I'm a kitsune at heart; I'm naturally curious." The two humans simply rolled their eyes at the youko and muttered something about him being an insufferable know it all under their breaths. "But since I only have time for three, I'll go with Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures."_

"_I'll take Divination and Ancient Runes for my other two," Hiei said immediately after._

_Yukina giggled. "I think we're going to be seeing quite a bit of each other then, Hiei-san. I'm going to take Ancient Runes too, along with Arithmancy."_

_Kuwabara, annoyed that Yukina seemed to be showing an interest in Hiei, spoke up. "Well, I'm going to choose Care of Magical Creatures, Divination – I'll have you know my sixth sense is very good at this – and Arithmancy. Just so we can have a class together, Yukina-san!" he exclaimed at the end, blushing bright red and clasping Yukina's hands. Yukina replied with a bright but mildly embarrassed smile._

"_Psh, guess I'll take Care of Magical Creatures," Yuusuke started, "maybe it'll help me take care of Puu."_

"_Yuusuke," Kurama began, "you're required to take two."_

"_Well, fine," the Spirit Detective replied, shoving his pinky into an ear in a show of childish petulance. "Add Divination to that too then."_

"_What about you, Botan?" Kuwabara asked, finally releasing Yukina's hands, sparing him from a potential punch from Hiei._

"_I'm a fortune teller when I'm not helping you guys, so, Divination is a rather natural choice. Besides, I want to know if their professor is any good!" she said, waving an index finger in the air. "Arithmancy sounds like it might be interesting; the other Ferry girls in the office always _did_ fuss over things regarding birthdates, and Care of Magical Creatures. I've encountered quite a few in my time, but I don't always know all there is to know about them."_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama was roughly shaken out of his thoughts as Yuusuke waved a hand in front of the kitsune. "Oi, Kurama, we're leaving!" As the youko hurried to catch up to his friends, he spotted a display of Hogwarts, a History on a shelf on the way to the register, and quickly decided to add a copy to his stack of books. It never hurt to know more about where he was going to be staying for the next nine or so months.

As they walked over to the register to pay, a tall lanky man entered the shop followed by a second man with shoulder-length wavy aqua hair. Bogged down with books, Yukina did not see where she was going and bumped into the first man, dropping her stack at her feet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, bowing in apology. She quickly kneeled to pick up the fallen books. Botan, who was following the little Koorime, set down her equally large stack of books and was about to help Yukina when the man bent over and helped her pick up the rest. "Thank you, kind sir."

"It's no trouble at all," the man replied with a gentle smile. "Watch where you're going in the future," he said as he walked towards the maps and atlases section of the store.

"What kept you?" Kuwabara asked as he took the top half of Yukina's books and set them onto the counter.

"I accidentally ran into someone and dropped my books," she breathlessly replied as she and Botan placed their books onto the counter.

The clerk quickly rang up the additional books. "That will be one hundred and thirty nine galleons and thirteen knuts, ma'am."

"Stupid textbooks costing so much," Genkai muttered, counting out the requisite knuts and galleons. While she counted, the clerk waved his wand, placing five books into each bag, for a total of fourteen bags. Each member of the group grabbed two bags each.

As they exited the store, Yuusuke's stomach let out a resounding growl. As they all turned to give the Detective an exasperated look, Genkai sighed. "Guess we're done with shopping for now. Let's head back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner."

To be continued . . .

AN:

1) Not sure if the books ever had them actually wear school uniforms; they certainly didn't mention it. But I do like the idea of Hogwarts having school uniforms, and so, they will have uniforms. Since there's no real mention of a separate shop for school uniforms in Diagon Alley in the movies or the books, I've opted to make those available at Madam Malkin's.

2) Since JKR didn't really mention much about the ties other than they're in the colors of the House the student gets sorted into – at least, as best as I can remember – I'm going to say that each uniform comes with a black tie with a charm that allows it to change color once. The color change occurs, quite naturally, once the student has been Sorted. Later uniform sets bought by the student (or his/her family) will come with ties of the appropriate color scheme.

And also, a general note to the reviewer who requested longer chapters. I generally write until I hit a good endpoint for the chapter and then stop. Generally, this comes out to 4-ish pages in MS Word. As you can tell, this chapter came out much longer than usual.

As always, a big thank you to my beta reader, nairb85, who convinced me to keep writing out the conversations, even though I was getting a little tired of the (as I call it) Obligatory Diagon Alley Shopping Chapter.

Leave a review! As always, comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.


	6. Cauldrons and Pets

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Kurama x Hiei

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! And here is part two of the Obligatory Diagon Alley Shopping chapter! And if anyone's curious where I'm pulling all these prices for items, I'm actually making rough estimates on cost (in US dollars), totaling them up, and then putting the numbers into the dollars to galleons/sickles/knuts converter over at the Harry Potter Lexicon website. Convenient little website, I must say.

Phoenix

Chapter 6: Cauldrons and Pets

"Wait," Kurama said, as everyone separated to go into their rooms for the night. "Can you come in for a moment? I have . . . a request I need to make of you," he sheepishly finished. Whatever the request was, Kuwabara noted, it had the kitsune rather uncomfortable. Making sure no one else was in the hallway, Kurama quickly closed the door.

"What's the matter, fox boy?" Yuusuke nonchalantly asked.

"From now on, I need you all to call me Shuuichi. Or Minamino-kun or something like it." The tone in Kurama's voice made it clear that the topic was marked as Not for Discussion, but Yuusuke could not help asking anyway.

"Why ever not?" Yuusuke asked, clearly confused.

"Because," Hiei replied, "Youko Kurama must have stolen quite a few important magical artifacts and made his way into the history books!"

Kurama could only give a sheepish grin in response as he sat down on the bed on his side of the room. "Well, you could say that. And I have no interest in getting summarily executed." An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the group considered the consequences, although no one thought more about it than Hiei. Youko Kurama had narrowly escaped death once; should his identity be discovered, would he be able to escape death again? Somehow, Hiei had the feeling that this time, under Koenma's watchful eye and the youko's newfound humanity and conscience, it was unlikely.

"Alright, time to sleep," Genkai ordered, breaking the silence. "We're not quite done yet with the shopping yet; be downstairs by nine tomorrow morning and eating breakfast. And Yuusuke," she paused to give her student a look, "if you're not there, I'll start by dropping you out of the window."

"Yes ma'am!" Yuusuke replied, giving her a fake salute as he trooped out the door. The others followed, leaving just Kurama and Hiei in their room.

As soon as the door was shut behind Yukina, Hiei all but pounced on Kurama, capturing the startled kitsune's lips in a desperate kiss. "Hiei," Kurama gently chided, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm sure Yuusuke-tachi realize the seriousness of the situation [1]."

Nestled in Kurama's arms, Hiei held the kitsune tighter and mumbled, "You know they'd have to go through me to get you, right? That I'd never let anyone so much as hurt you; you're far too precious. That was far too close at the Tournament."

Kurama's emerald eyes fluttered wide at that statement. He had been a hair's breadth away from death in his fight against Karasu; and that night . . . [2]

_They had just returned to their room at the hotel after the collapse of the stadium, and given that Kurama had been critically injured in his fight, Hiei had taken it upon himself to escort the kitsune back into their room after attending the early parts of the party that was thrown for the winners. Throughout the few hours they were there, though, Kurama had a feeling that something was up with the fire youkai._

_But now that they were private, Kurama was sure beyond a doubt that there was something bothering his partner. Looking up from his seated position on the bed, he asked, "What's wrong, Hiei? I can tell something's been bothering you all day especially after your fight."_

_Setting down the first aid kit onto the night stand, Hiei sighed and sat down next to the fox. The next few words would have been forever lost if Kurama had not possessed his extraordinarily sharp hearing. "Baka na kitsune._[3]_ Always cutting it so close." Closing his eyes and turning away, Hiei clenched the sheets before whirling towards the fox, ruby eyes nearly glowing with anger. "Don't you ever think about what the rest of us would do without you?!" Rage rushed through the Jaganshi as he punched the wall behind Kurama, leaving a dent._

_Kurama was speechless; of all the people he knew, Hiei was the last one he would expect such a reaction. "I . . . I-"_

"_Damn it Fox, what am I supposed to do if you're not around?" Hiei's voice cracked in the middle of that sentence and he hastily wiped his face with his other arm. At that moment, Kurama knew exactly what his fighting partner and closest friend was trying to say. As the fire youkai opened his mouth to say more, Kurama simply silenced him with an index finger to the lips and pulled the Jaganshi in for a hug._

"_Shhh, I'm right here, I'm not dead yet," Kurama gently whispered as he rubbed comforting circles on Hiei's back. "I'll always be here, as long as you'll have me." Gently tipping up Hiei's chin with a finger, emerald eyes searched ruby for the truth; fear, concern, and above all, love. That was all the confirmation the reborn youko needed to place a gentle kiss on the Jaganshi's lips._

Holding the little fire youkai tighter, he repeated what he said that night, "I'm right here, Hiei; I'm never leaving you. As long as you'll have me, I'll be yours."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, five people met downstairs at the Leaky Cauldron; Kurama and Hiei were mulling over their cups of tea as Yukina and Botan happily ate their pancake breakfasts. Genkai, seeing neither of the other two humans had come down sighed and walked upstairs. A few moments later, a loud thud and the bang of the Leaky Cauldron door being kicked open was heard. Yukina and Botan winced at the sound as Kurama and Hiei calmly continued to sip their tea.

"Guess that means Yuusuke and Kuwabara-kun are awake."

The pair of human teenagers huffily sat down at the table. "Oi, we'll have whatever is the house special!" Yuusuke shouted to Tom. The man simply nodded, and a few moments later, two steaming plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast floated over to the two teens, along with two cups of tea.

As they heartily dug into their meal, Kuwabara asked, "War ah we shoffig fo dotay?"

Kurama, Hiei, Botan, and Yukina simply looked the carrot-topped human with confusion. Genkai had simply taken to ignoring Kuwabara's mouth full mangled speech, and Yuusuke was too busy digging his way through his breakfast to pay attention. "What?" they all asked in unison.

Swallowing the enormous mouthful he had shoved into his mouth, Kuwabara asked again. "What are we shopping for today?"

"Your cauldrons and ingredients for Potions, along with any pets you might want to keep," Genkai replied, sipping her tea. Pulling out her wand, she counted out fifteen Galleons and flicked her wand in Tom's direction. "Keep the change; you'll need to get the windows in one of your rooms fixed." The barkeep simply nodded his head in acceptance.

After another fifteen minutes of unsightly stuffing their faces – Kurama could not help but wonder how the teens managed to swallow and breath at the same time, given how quickly breakfast was being shoveled into their mouths – Kuwabara and Yuusuke dashed upstairs to get changed for the day. Once back down, Genkai tapped the bricks in the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron; the group found themselves in Diagon Alley once more.

"This way," Genkai said, leading the group to the shop closest to the entrance.

Inside, they saw quite a number of students and their parents shopping for cauldrons; no doubt doing some last minute school shopping before heading off on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow morning. Displays for cauldrons of all types and sizes were spread out in the shop: copper, brass, pewter, silver; one display was for self-stirring cauldrons – the ladles that were placed inside them were slowly moving in circles; another display had a cauldron that flattened itself until it was no thicker than it was a piece of parchment before springing up into its normal size with a "Sproing!".

Near the back was a display with a sign that read, "Standard Potions Brewing Kits", along with several tables with signs indicating what each kit was standardized for. The kit listed its contents on the back: A standard half gallon cast iron cauldron, about twenty standard potions ingredients suitable for the beginning potion brewer, and a half dozen empty glass vials. Kurama curiously looked at the package; for a box claiming to hold a half-gallon cast iron cauldron, twenty vials of ingredients, and six glass vials, it was remarkably light. A bright red warning label on one of the side panels caught his attention as he continued to examine the kit. "CAUTION:" it read, "Do not remove wrapping over fragile objects. This includes pets, feet, and glass tables."[4]

"Stop looking so confused, Minamino" Genkai said offhandedly, clearly having taken Kurama's request the prior night to heart. "The packages have been enchanted to be lighter and smaller than their contents."

Nodding appreciatively in response, Kurama stepped out of the way to allow the others to grab theirs. Half an hour of waiting in line later, the septet walked out of the shop and headed down Diagon Alley towards the Magical Menagerie. When they passed by it the prior evening, the shop had been closed. But now, at around ten in the morning, the shop was positively bustling and noisy. Animals of all shapes, sizes, and colors filled the cages all around the shop, along with children of all ages begging their mothers for a new pet, and witches and wizards haggling for the best price on the pet of their choice.

Walking around the cages, Hiei stopped when he saw a small pure white kitten in the back of one of the cat cages. It was smaller than the rest; undoubtedly the runt of its litter. Recognizing it had someone's attention, it turned to look at Hiei, holding the fire youkai's magically altered chocolate gaze with blood red ones of its own. "You want that one, Hiei?" an alto voice quietly said. "Red eyes," Kurama quietly noted. "It's an albino."

"A what?" Hiei asked in response.

"Albino. They're animals that were born without the ability to make color in their bodies. As a result, they're white, and since they can't create color pigments in their eyes, they have red eyes. They're typically born runts; many don't survive."

"Can I help you, sir and miss?" a helpful female voice said from behind.

"Damn it!" Kurama exclaimed, whirling around to face the witch in question. "I'm a _boy_, dammit, a _boy_!"[5]

"Pardon me, sir," the witch hastily replied. Hiei, on the other hand, had quietly pointed to the white kitten in the cage. "Ah, that one? It's an albino runt, and with the rumors going around lately, no one wants the poor thing. The whole association between red eyes and the Dark Arts has people scared of even the smallest kitten. And the other kittens don't seem to like her much either; always pushing her away from the food bowl. Would you like to hold her?" Hiei nodded, and the witch opened the top of the cage, picked up the small mewling bundle of white, and held it out to the fire youkai.

The kitten rumbled in appreciation as Hiei began to gently scratch behind its tiny furry ears, and Kurama turned to the witch and asked, "How much for the kitten?"

"She's priced at seven galleons, sixteen sickles, and one knut. But I'll discount her down to six galleons along with a cat carrier and food if you're going to buy her now."

Turning over to Hiei, Kurama asked, "Shall we then, Hiei?" A small, almost imperceptible nod was all the response the little fire youkai gave. Clearly, there was something about the small innocent creature that had captured the hiyoukai's attention. "We'll take her. We'd like to wait on paying until our companions have finished choosing pets of their own."

"Excellent," the witch said, walking back towards the counter. "I'll get the rest of the items right away."

As they walked towards the cash register, Kurama noticed the others standing near the entrance of the shop. "Ah, Genkai-shihan, Hiei found a kitten he'd like to purchase."

Fixing Kurama a question look at the mention that it was Hiei, not Kurama, that had found a pet, Genkai glanced over at the cash register. Sure enough, there was Hiei, listening intently to what the witch was telling him about taking care of the small white fur ball that he was gently holding in his arms. Shrugging, she walked over, pulling out the money pouch in preparation.

"Are you sure the Shrimp will manage a kitten that young on his own?" Kuwabara asked. "Isn't he liable to accidentally kill the thing?"

Kurama looked back with a look. _'Hiei's perfectly capable of being gentle . . . when he wants to be.'_ "Kuwabara-kun, Hiei won't be looking after the kitten on his own. I'll help him. Besides, if we have any trouble at all, I'll come ask you."

Seemingly satisfied, the tall human said nothing more as Genkai and Hiei, who now had the kitten tucked into the white scarf he always wore as he held the cat carrier in his left, rejoined the group. The cat was nearly indistinguishable from the scarf, save for its two blood red curious eyes. Kurama gently smiled at Hiei as they walked out of the shop together. _'Who'd have thought the two most ruthless and notorious youkai in recent Makai history would end up raising a runt kitten together?'_

"Kurama, since you two already have a pet, why don't you head over to Madam Malkin's with Hiei?" Genkai asked as she pulled out a separate pouch and filled it with some coins. "This should be enough to cover the costs. Meet us over at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for lunch afterwards." As she turned around to leave, the old martial arts master thought of something else, and whirled back around. "And stay out of Knockturn Alley."

The kitsune nodded, accepting the pouch as he walked over to the clothing store with Hiei. Placing the pouch in his pocket, the youko glanced around the street. Yuusuke and the others had long entered a shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium, and the rest of the witches and wizards seemed far too concerned with their errands to pay attention to anyone else in the streets. The pair quickly found the shop, and entered. The witch that had been helping them yesterday greeted them as they entered the shop.

"Good morning, and welcome to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," she greeted. "Ah, you're with that group from yesterday. Your Hogwarts robes and uniforms are ready. That will be 62 galleons, 9 sickles, and 16 knuts."

Kurama carefully counted out the money on the counter. "Thank you," the kitsune said as he lifted the bag of clothing. No doubt the bag was magical, as it appeared to be nothing more than a normally filled cloth bag that could have held no more than a robe or two. Exiting out onto the street, a heavy tolling, like that of a clock tower, echoed throughout the Alley. Counting off each toll, the youko figured it was eleven.

Turning to Hiei, he asked, "We have about an hour before we need to meet up with the others, why don't we head back to the Leaky Cauldron and drop off our purchases before heading over to the ice cream parlor?"

Nodding in agreement, Hiei turned to follow, absently using a single finger to pet the kitten perched on his shoulder.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eeylops Owl Emporium was a loud and raucous shop as owls of all sizes hooted and screeched to garner the attention of the customers. Walking up to one of the wizards that ran the shop, Yukina asked, "Are there any owls here that are good for long distance travel?"

"Depends on how far you need it to travel, miss," he replied. "Where are you planning to send letters?"

"Japan," she replied.

"Perhaps a speedy owl would be best suited for your needs then," he replied. He led her to the back of the shop, where a large number of owls perched in various cages. Realizing there was a potential customer, the owls began to hoot.

Looking around, Yukina noticed one owl in particular had not responded to her presence. It was a rather large bird, with black vertical feathers amidst a background of white. _'Much like the boughs of those evergreens in the forests near Genkai's temple in the winter,'_ Yukina noted. Fine grey feathers spread out from its "face", and its eyes, almost black in color, suggested some sort of higher intelligence as they bored into hers. Walking up to it, Yukina smiled gently at the bird as she held her hand near the cage. The owl gave no response, as though to say that it was superior to the others, that it needed no master. The aloof bird piqued Yukina's curiosity, and she turned to the wizard helping her.

"Do you have any food I might be able to give it?" she asked.

"Curious creature, isn't he?" the wizard asked as he handed her an owl treat. "Many people have tried to get a response from it, but he hardly ever accepts anything from anyone."

Yukina gave the man a smile in response as she took the treat and placed it in her right hand. Using her left, she opened the door to the cage, and placed her hand inside, offering the treat to the bird. It ruffled its feathers, as though to scorn the Koorime for her actions, but after a few more minutes of her patiently holding her hand in the cage, it acquiesced, and began to peck at the treat. After it finished, Yukina gently pet its head, and said, "Thank you for accepting the treat, Mr. Owl. Would you mind becoming my messenger?"

The owl gave a single hoot in response and imperceptibly nodded its head as though it understood what the gentle Koorime had asked. "I believe I will purchase him," Yukina told the wizard as she removed her hand from the cage and redid the lock.

The wizard grabbed a pole with a hook at the end, and hooked loop at the top of the cage and brought it down for the Koorime to hold. "If you will follow me this way, I will ring up your purchase."

Yukina followed, and was met by Botan, who was also holding another owl – a grey and white one – in a cage, and Genkai along the way. Yuusuke and Kuwabara had long grown weary of the shopping and the screeching of the owls and had taken to just standing outside the shop.

"Will you be paying for those together?" a wizard asked, as he looked from Botan to Yukina.

"Yes," Genkai replied.

"That will be twenty galleons for both owls." Genkai counted out the twenty galleons and slid them across the counter. "And as a thank you for purchasing your owls from the shop, here are two bags of owl treats." The wizard placed both bags of treats into a separate cloth bag.

"Thank you very much!" Yukina replied, taking the bag of treats. Turning to her owl, she said, "You like those very much, don't you?" When it refused to deign her with a response, she giggled. Its attitude reminded her of a certain diminutive youkai she knew, and again, the lingering curiosity as to whether the youkai in question was her long lost brother made itself known once more.

As they exited the shop, Kuwabara turned to help Yukina with the cage. "Yukina-san!" he screeched, "Let me help you with that cage!"

As the human grabbed the sides of the cage, the owl fluttered from its perch in the middle, and bit his fingers. "Ow!" Kuwabara exclaimed before glaring at the creature. "What did you do that for?!" The owl did not respond, but simply glared at the human.

"Now, now, Mr. Owl," Yukina gently chided, "Don't bite Kazuma-san. He's only trying to help me."

In response, the owl gave her a baleful look, as though to say, "But he's a loud and obnoxious human!"

And somehow, it appeared the Koorime understood what the owl was trying to say, because she replied, "Be nice to him; he's my friend." Turning to Kuwabara, she handed him the cloth bag with the treats instead. "Maybe I should carry Mr. Owl for now."

"Yukina-chan," Botan asked, "What are you going to name him?"

"I'm not sure yet," the ice maiden replied, "But whatever it is, I'll ask Mr. Owl to make sure he likes it."

Genkai spoke up, "We have half an hour before we meet up with Kurama and Hiei again. Let's head back to the Leaky Cauldron to put down our purchases. We're done with shopping for school supplies; all that's left is getting trunks to hold your belongings." Yuusuke and Kuwabara gave her an exasperated look.

"More shopping?" the Detective whined.

"We need them to blend in," she pointed out as she led the way towards another shop.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After a rather uneventful trip to drop off purchases at the Leaky Cauldron, Genkai, Botan, Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Yukina approached Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor to find Kurama and Hiei already sitting outside with a milky green colored drink in each of their glasses. Seeing the others approach, Kurama smiled and waved. "How did the owl shopping go?"

"Just wonderful," Botan replied. "I think I found one that will be good for _all_ of our communication needs." The emphasis on "all" told Kurama all he needed. No doubt Botan had found an owl that could cross dimensional barriers. Either that or the bird could be enchanted to perform such a task.

"And you, Yukina-chan?"

"Oh, I found a beautiful black and white owl," Yukina replied.

"Yeah," Kuwabara groused. "The bastard bit me when I tried to carry his cage too."

Kurama laughed. "Maybe you should try to make friends with it first before you approach it next time."

"I'm famished," Yuusuke said, pulling out one of the empty chairs at the table. "Let's get something to eat."

Lunch passed by rather uneventfully, as they ordered a several sandwiches to be split among the group, along with ice cream sundaes for dessert. Once they were finished and paid, Genkai returned to the table and said, "Alright let's go trunk shopping."

The trunk shop was across the street from some shop called "Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions". It was a rather shabby looking shop, and filled with trunks of all shapes, colors and sizes. On the one side there was a section for "standard" trunks, another for "Self Everything" trunks – whatever that meant, Kurama could not figure it out -, another for custom trunks, another for extra-dimensional space trunks, and many further back the shop.

After going through all the trunks in the shop, Hiei muttered, "The locks on these things are terrible. Magical or not, I can pick most of these with a stick!"

Kurama chuckled in response. "Yes, it's amazing what these people consider secure, but nonetheless, we need to have one to fit in at the school."

"Hn." The hiyoukai walked to the back of the shop, where he had found one with a lock that was marginally better than the rest he'd seen. "This one then." The trunk was made of stiff leather, tanned until it was dark brown, almost black. The metal on the outside had a matte finish, giving the trunk a very modest look. The sign next to it said it had an extra dimensional space tucked into the lid. No doubt Hiei would use it to stow his sword and other weapons. The fire demon hefted the trunk towards the front of the shop.

Chuckling at Hiei's standards, Kurama looked around at some of the other chests in the same section. He had brought his seed collection with him from home, not knowing what they were likely to encounter and many of those seeds contained rare plants from the Makai he had been able to summon utilizing what remained of the "Potion of Past Life". Some of those were rather dangerous, and being able to store the seeds in a hidden compartment would lower the odds they would be found. Scanning through the remaining trunks, the kitsune spotted a wooden one with intricately carved vines on the outside. Black iron bars reinforced it, and the sign next to it said it had a hidden extra dimensional compartment in the bottom. While the lock left much to be desired, the fact that it was a wooden trunk would work to the kitsune's benefit. It would be easy enough for him to bolster the weak lock with a little youki from him. Hefting the trunk, Kurama rejoined the others at the front of the shop.

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing their things into the trunks, and, in Kurama and Hiei's case, placing the proper wards on the hidden compartments of their respective trunks to prevent other people from tampering with the contents. At around six-thirty, a knock sounded from the door.

"Come in, the door's unlocked," Kurama said, continuing to read his book. Hiei had opted to sit in the windowsill, staring out into the London skyline.

"We're going to get dinner," Botan said, opening the door. "I also received a message from Koenma-sama about some last minute items." Knowing exactly the items Botan was referring to, or so he hoped, the kitsune replaced the bookmark and set the book down onto the nightstand.

"Hiei, are you coming?" Kurama asked as he got off the bed and walked to the door.

"Hn." Despite the monosyllabic reply, the hiyoukai blurred off the windowsill and reappeared at the youko's side.

Downstairs, Koenma had already appeared and was sitting at a large table with Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Genkai, and Yukina. Seeing the redheaded kitsune come down the stairs with the ever cranky fire youkai and Botan, Koenma waved. "Yo, Kurama, Hiei," the young Reikai lord greeted.

"Koenma," Kurama greeted with a polite nod, "I've been told that there were certain . . . items you had for us?"

"Yes, yes," Koenma replied, setting a large suitcase onto the table. "A laptop and a cell phone, as you, er, requested." The godling had to suppress a shudder as he recalled the look in Kurama's eyes. It promised a messy . . . _natural_ death, as it were, should Koenma not follow through.

Kurama opened the briefcase; inside was a blue cell phone and small laptop resting on foam cushioning. No power adaptors of any sort were visible in the case. "And they run on . . .?"

"Ki, either reiki or youki, it'll take both. We haven't had the chance to test it inside of an extremely magical environment like Hogwarts, but they should operate fine outside of the school's grounds. The laptop can send email from pretty much anywhere in the world – although, again, we haven't had the chance to test it inside a place like Hogwarts – but it is hooked up to ReiComm, the Reikai Communication System. The same goes for the cell phone. Naturally, the cell phone requires less ki to use than the laptop."

Kurama nodded in appreciation. Now he can at least stay in contact with his mother. Sure, he would still have to test whether the devices worked inside Hogwarts – he hoped they would, but if not, it should not take him long to figure out a means of sneaking off of school grounds to do so.

"Well, now that that's taken care of," Yuusuke said, "Let's order!"

Everyone laughed; Yuusuke always _did_ have a knack for prioritizing his stomach above all else. Kurama relaxed; now that one of his primary concerns regarding the mission had been dealt with, he could at least feel some measure of comfort. But as for the rest of this mission . . . he could only pray to Inari and hope all went well. _'After all, I doubt most of these humans would take as kindly to youkai in their midst as Yuusuke has.'_

To be continued . . .

1) _"… Yuusuke-tachi …":_ The –tachi suffix indicates the speaker is talking about a group of people. In this case, Kurama is referring to Yuusuke and the others (Kuwabara, Yukina, Genkai, and Botan).

2) I wrote this entire flashback while listening to Kuraki Mai's "Key to My Heart". Sorry if it's a little _too _saccharine for some people's tastes. =P And I realize Hiei seems really insecure, and maybe even out of character here. But truth is, Kurama's pretty damn near the best thing that's happened to him so far, beyond finding Yukina alive and rescuing her. So I think it'd make sense for him to be scared and rather insecure after nearly being forced to watch Kurama almost die twice in what was probably about one or two weeks.

3) "Baka na kitsune." There are two types of adjectives in Japanese. The category that baka belongs to is the "na" adjectives. These are adjectives that use "na" after the adjective in question.

4) Credit to this line goes to my beta, nairb85, who thought it'd be appropriate to have a caution label on the standard potion brewing kits after I described them to him. =P

5) Sorry if the joke is getting a little old, but since one of the reasons I'm writing this fic is in response to an YYH/HP crossover challenge, you'll see me use this gag once or twice more. The challenge issuer in question insisted that Kurama be mistaken for a girl at least four times. Obviously, this gag isn't totally useable once the guys establish themselves at Hogwarts.

As always, a big thank you to my beta, nairb85, and drop me a review! I love getting feedback from my readers!


	7. To Hogwarts We Go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Kurama x Hiei

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! And finally! Harry!

Phoenix

Chapter 7: To Hogwarts We Go!

Harry looked around him at the train station that morning, waiting for the others to gather their belongings from the Ministry provided limos behind them. Over the years, he had gotten used to getting strange looks from the Muggles around him; after all, who traveled with trunks and owls nowadays? Still, this had to be the first year he did _not_ look forward to returning to Hogwarts. Even though it was a little over two months ago, Cedric's death at Voldemort's hands weighed heavily on his mind. For the first month, he managed not to think, to dream, about what happened that fateful night at the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament; he was still in shock. But now, two months later, rarely a night went by without him dreaming of the shrill voice saying "Kill the spare" and the green light that came with a casting of _Avada Kedavra_. Invariably, the dreams would then turn to what little he remembered of his parents' deaths that night fifteen years ago, and he would suddenly wake up with tears streaming down his face, hands clenching the sheets so hard that he could have sworn his fingernails had cut through them.

"Oi, Harry! Harry!" Ron shouted, waving a hand in front of bottle green eyes. Harry shook himself out of his thoughts before focusing his eyes on his friend's face.

"What, Ron?" he replied a little groggily. The lack of undisturbed sleep from the past month had taken a toll on the teenaged wizard. The only real blessing, he supposed, was that ever since that dream early in the summer, he had had no more regarding Voldemort and his plans. Of course, just because he had not dreamed of Voldemort's recent activities did not mean that the Dark wizard was taking a break. If the activity reports Harry had eavesdropped on over the last few weeks of summer were right, Voldemort was definitely planning something. And that "something" was big.

"C'mon, we're going leave without you if you keep staring off into space like that," Ron said, giving his cart a push. Realizing that his trunk and Hedwig's cage had also been loaded onto a separate cart, Harry began to push it inside, and towards the familiar barrier in the King's Cross station to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

As expected, many people in the station stared at the strange group going towards the platforms: Tonks had colored her hair a brilliant blue that morning; Hedwig was in her cage, looking dignified as ever; Lupin was looking shabbier than usual, the full moon had passed a few nights ago; and Moody, well, regardless of how Moody was dressed, his fake leg and strange eye _always_ caught stares from Muggles. As usual, they waited until enough people were looking away before they each went through the barrier: first Tonks and Moody, then Harry, Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, Ginny and then finally, Lupin and Mrs. Weasley. The few normal people who had seen the group disappear one by one rubbed their eyes before convincing themselves that they had stayed up too late the weekend prior, and what they really needed was a nice fresh cup of coffee. After all, people did _not_ walk through walls, right? Right?

On the other side of the barrier, in what was seemingly another world, however, Harry was met with more stares. Here, he was a hero. A discredited hero, no thanks to the Ministry's tightly controlled media blitz to keep the general wizarding public unaware of Voldemort's resurrection two months ago, but a hero nonetheless. Glancing around the platform, Harry noticed a strange group of seven people loading their things into the Hogwarts express: Two girls with similar shades of pale blue hair, one teenage girl (or was it boy?) with long scarlet hair – so red that it made Ron's seem positively orange in comparison -, a short black haired boy with hair that stood up on end (Harry had to wonder what spell or gel the boy used to get his hair to do that), another boy about Harry's height with short black hair, a taller boy with red hair much closer to Ron's hair color, and a short – even shorter than the short black haired boy – old woman with faded pink hair. Running through his memories of the past four years, Harry decided that he had not seen this group before, and that even if he did not know them by name at Hogwarts, he could not have possibly missed their presence, especially not the scarlet haired boy. . . girl . . . person. Yes, person would work for the moment, until Harry had a chance to meet this individual and ascertain their gender for himself.

Looking around the platform some more, he also noticed a tall lanky man with short black hair, a loose fitting black shirt, and tight black pants, with another – again, Harry found himself unable to determine the gender of this individual as well; what _was_ wrong with him today? – person with shoulder length wavy aqua hair in white Asian style robes. They were saying goodbye to a child, looking about ten to twelve years of age, with brown hair and wearing a light blue pullover with a pair of shorts. _'Maybe that person with the aqua hair is the kid's mother?'_

A gentle tapping on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. "Harry," Ginny gently said, "The train's going to leave soon."

"Oh, right," he mumbled in response, dragging his things into the train. Once inside, Ron and Hermione put on their Prefect badges – a pang of disappointment shot through Harry as he wondered why Dumbledore had not seen him worthy of being a Prefect – and gave him apologetic faces.

"We . . . need to head over to the Prefect car for instructions," Hermione uncomfortably said, knowing that Harry was just as qualified as both of them to be a Prefect. "We'll come find you when we're done."

Harry watched his friends walk off as Ginny grabbed his arm. "C'mon, Harry, let's find a compartment before they're all taken."

As he wandered down the corridor, he noticed all the familiar faces from his past five years at Hogwarts. Some greeted him with a simple "Hi Potter!" some of the Gryffindors with a "Hi Harry!" but others simply looked at him and then turned away, as though they were unsure as to what to think or do regarding the British teen. Harry, on the other hand, while frustrated, found it difficult to find fault with them. After all, how could they, these normal wizarding children, know what it was like to be Harry Potter? To be some kid who always managed to escape the grasp of, arguably, the most powerful and evil Dark Wizard in history by the skin of his teeth?

The compartments in the car they had boarded were full, so Harry and Ginny continued onto the next car. There, Harry once more spotted the strange group he had seen earlier, except this time, the old woman with the faded pink hair was not with them. Spotting a pair of free seats next to the two girls with pale blue hair, and that the short boy with the vertical black hair was sitting on the windowsill, Harry's curiosity piqued again.

"Want to sit here with them?" he quietly asked the shorter girl.

"Sure, but, I wonder who they are? I've never seen them at Hogwarts before, and they certainly look too old to be first years," Ginny replied, glancing at the group. "Well, most of them, anyway."

"Transfer students then?" Harry suggested, even though he did not remember his Hogwarts letter mentioning them this year.

"Maybe," she said, walking forward and opening the door. She asked, "May we sit here with you? The other car was full."

"Oh!" the one with a red clip in her hair exclaimed. "Certainly."

The other one, with her hair in a ponytail, asked, "What are your names? I'm Botan Ueno, and this," she indicated to her friend? Sister? "Is Yukina Koorino." [1] Gesturing to a teenager with gelled hair, "That is Yuusuke Urameshi, and next to him is Kazuma Kuwabara." Turning to the long scarlet haired boy - this time, Harry was sure, given a lack of a certain piece of decidedly female anatomy - she continued, "This is Ku-Shuuichi Minamino, and sitting on the windowsill is Hiei Jaganshi."

"Is he alright sitting up on the windowsill like that?" Harry asked, genuinely concerned. The ledges were narrow, and Hiei was sitting with his right leg up on the sill with his right arm propped up. The boy's left leg dangled off the ledge, barely reaching the floor, and his left arm rested on the leg. In the crook of his right leg and hip, nestled a small white kitten. It was clear that he was delicately balanced on the windowsill and that the smallest jerk on the train could cause him, and the kitten in his lap, to tumble off. Harry got the distinct impression he was being analyzed by the short boy from the way the short . . . teen's brown eyes were boring into him.

"Hn."

"Don't mind Hiei," Shuuichi said smiling, in a voice that Harry could have sworn was vaguely feminine. _'Ok, so maybe he's a she after all?'_ "Hiei's like that."

"Yeah, he's got a real way with words," Yuusuke chimed in, big goofy grin on his face.

"You look a bit old to be first years," Ginny began. "Are you transfer students?"

"Yes, we are transferring into your Fifth Year classes," the one introduced as Yukina replied with a serene and gentle voice.

"Will you be sorted into Houses?" Ginny excitedly asked.

"Yes," Shuuichi replied. "Can you tell us more about them?"

"Oh sure," Ginny said. "There are four in total, each named for the founders. Students are sorted into Houses based on the characteristics each founder prized. Gryffindor's Head of House is Professor McGonagall and Gryffindor prized bravery in his students. The House animal is a lion, and it's also Harry and my House. Hufflepuff's Head of House is Professor Sprout and Hufflepuff prized hardworking students. The House animal is a badger. Ravenclaw's Head of House is Professor Flitwick, and Ravenclaw prized intelligence in her students. Slytherin's Head of House is Professor Snape, and Slytherin prized cunning in his students. The sorting itself is performed by the Sorting Hat."

"The . . . Sorting _Hat_?" Yuusuke incredulously echoed.

"Yes, an old hat that looks into your mind and based on your past actions, will determine which House suits you best." Unnoticed by Harry and Ginny, Shuuichi and Hiei exchanged a look at that revelation.

Harry was about to tell them about the ghosts of each House when a knock came at the door. To his surprise, Cho was looking in through the window, with one of her girlfriends from Ravenclaw whose name Harry did not know. Standing, he opened the door. Nervously, he ran a hand through his hair, hoping that it was reasonably neat today. "Um, hi Cho."

She looked down at the ground. Was Harry seeing things, or did her eyes look a little puffy today? "Hi Harry. Um," she looked past his shoulder, and spotted the new transfer students. "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation with your friends."

"Oh, no, they're the new transfer students to Hogwarts," he explained. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?" As soon as that last question came out, he berated himself. _'Stupid Harry! Couldn't you have said something _else_? Of _course_ she wanted to talk to you! Why else would she be here?'_

"Um, it's nothing," she hastily replied, turning to go. "I'll see you at school." As he turned around, shutting the door behind him, he vaguely heard Yuusuke ask something.

"Oh, that's Cho Chang; she's the Seeker for Ravenclaw's Quidditch team."

"Quidditch? What's that?" Kuwabara asked, curious.

"It's complicated, but let's see, it's a wizard sport played with three different balls . . ."

After several hours of Quidditch discussion, and much interest from Botan, the door to the compartment suddenly opened. On the other side, stood none other than Malfoy, Slytherin prefect badge gleaming on his chest, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"I had heard," Malfoy drawled, "that we had some foreign transfer students on the train today." Harry was on his feet in an instant, hand on the wand in his pocket.

"What do _you_ want, Malfoy?"

"Well, if it isn't Potter. As you can undoubtedly see," here, Malfoy paused and tapped an index finger on the prefect badge pinned to his robe, "I am a prefect. _You_," he emphasized the word in an effort to belittle the scarred teen, "are not. I don't like that tone of voice you used with me just now. Five points from Gryffindor." Glancing at the six transfer students and Ginny seated behind him, Malfoy continued. "I am Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin prefect. If you find yourself in need of _friends_ or assistance, feel free to find me. I will be of more help than," here, Malfoy scoffed, gesturing towards Harry and Ginny, "these two here."

"Yes," Shuuichi replied, his voice suddenly silkier, lower, and more threatening. "I believe we've met before." Sidling past Harry, the scarlet haired boy walked up to Draco, and leaned in. "Unfortunately, I think I'll take my chances with," here, Shuuichi imitated Malfoy's scoff and gesture, "these two here, as you so succinctly put it earlier, than you."

Malfoy scowled as his own gestures were imitated back at him, and whirled to leave. "Just remember, who your friends are at Hogwarts matter." He slammed the door even as Shuuichi stood there. The scarlet haired teenager simply caught the door and gently clicked it shut.

Turning around with a bright smile, he asked, "Is he always like that?"

"Oh yes," Harry said, staring at the place where Malfoy once stood. "Always." The incident, though gave Harry something to think about. His first impression of Shuuichi Minamino had been that he was a rather soft spoken, refined, albeit a bit feminine teenage boy. But the way he had threatened Malfoy; there was something unnervingly cold about it, something completely out of character with the mental impression Harry had had of the teenager that made him wonder.

"Potter-kun, something wrong?" Shuuichi asked voice back normal with a look of perfect innocence as though the earlier conversation – if it could be called as much – with Malfoy had not happened.

"It's nothing," Harry replied. _'But what was that earlier? It was like he was someone else just now. Could he be a Dark Wizard?'_

Ginny, realizing that Harry was spacing out again, asked, "So, where did we leave off?"

"Oh right," Botan chimed in, "You were explaining some of the special maneuvers in Quidditch!"

Half an hour later, the witch with the tea trolley came by. They each bought some sandwiches and pumpkin juice, and seeing the candies, Harry decided to buy a few.

"I'll have a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a half dozen Chocolate Frogs."

"Every flavor?" Kazuma asked.

"Yep," Ginny replied, "including ones like baked beans and spinach. I think my brother George said he'd had one booger flavored one . . . but I wonder about that sometimes."

Yuusuke and Kazuma looked at each other, and both quickly decided to buy a bag for themselves. Shuuichi bought a few Chocolate Frogs, as did the girls.

"Oh hey, there are cards in these?" Shuuichi asked, surprised. He – Harry had decided that the teenager was decidedly male after all after talking with him for the past few hours - held a card with a picture of Dumbledore on it. "Current headmaster of Hogwarts, renowned as the greatest sorcerer of the present age." Shuuichi nearly dropped the card when the picture waved at him.

Harry laughed, "Don't worry, you get used to the moving pictures after a while. Do they not move in Japan?"

"No," the scarlet haired boy replied. "We're much more discreet with magic over there. We generally live side by side with, what do you call them, Muggles?" Harry and Ginny nodded in response. "Muggles over there. So we use no magic in our daily life, even though we train our skills daily."

"Yuck!" Kazuma suddenly exclaimed as he spat something out the jelly bean he had just put into his mouth. "Ugh, that was just nasty!"

Ginny laughed. "I warned you!" she said between giggles.

"Hn. Stupid oaf."

"Oh yeah? I _dare_ you to try one of these, Hiei!"

Scoffing, Hiei took a yellow bean out of the bag and popped it into his mouth. "Lemon."

Soon, laughter filled the carriage as they all took turns trying the jelly beans of literally every flavor. All too soon, though, night began to fall. "Harry, we should go change into our school robes," Ginny said, standing up.

"We'll see you at school," Harry said, following Ginny out the door. Absently following her, he thought back onto the six new transfer students. Yukina seemed to be a shy, innocent girl, rather different from the other members of the strange group. Botan was just simply energetic with her bubbly personality and animated gestures. Yuusuke was a bit of a punk, but Harry could tell he had a good heart underneath. Kazuma was a bit clumsy, but rather good natured. Shuuichi was quiet and reserved, but clearly had something of a bit of a split personality. Harry was still unsure what to make of that, and Hiei, well, the teenager was someone of surprisingly few words and emotions, preferring to simply look out the window as though he were ignoring everyone else in the car.

As he stepped out of the bathroom after changing, Ron and Hermione rushed up to him. "Sorry for leaving you so long, Harry!" Hermione said, breathless. "We were held up in instructional meetings for prefects."

"We have new transfer students from Japan," Harry said. _'Yes, so held up that _Malfoy_ managed to pay us a visit a little before lunch.'_ As soon as that thought came to his mind, another struck it down. _'Stop it, Harry! Malfoy probably snuck out or something just to antagonize you as usual.'_ At that moment, Yuusuke and the others walked up, wearing their school uniforms and robes. One by one, Harry introduced them. "Yuusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Shuuichi Minamino, Hiei Jaganshi, Botan Ueno, and Yukina Koorino, meet Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They're the prefects for Gryffindor this year." Harry tried to keep his voice level at that; a small part of him still resented not being chosen by Dumbledore to be the Gryffindor prefect.

"N-nice to meet you," Hermione said, eyes glued to Shuuichi with a mild blush on her face.

"Oi, Hermione, you alright?" Ron asked. He had noticed her flush, and was concerned for his friend.

Embarrassed at being caught, Hermione quickly turned to face Ron. "I'm fine, Ron."

The train stopped, and they all got off. "Oh, you guys will probably be taking the boats across the lake," Hermione said. "Don't worry about your things; they'll be delivered to your rooms during the feast."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the four students left, the Reikai Tantei all looked at each other. "Well, I guess we better get onto a boat then," Kurama said, leading the way towards the docks.

"First Years over here," an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair said, pipe dangling from her mouth. "Three to a boat. That's it, no pushing. Everyone get in a boat and get in and we'll be on our way."

"Yukina-san!" Kuwabara shrieked, taking her hands in his, "Would you like to share a boat with me?" His face blushed as he asked the little Koorime.

"I would be delighted," Yukina replied. As she stepped to get in, Kuwabara held her hands to help her in.

"If she goes in that boat, I'm coming too," Hiei quietly said, walking over and sitting. Kuwabara scowled; he was hoping that any of the others would be joining him so he could get something resembling quality time with her without Hiei hovering over them.

Kurama simply chuckled in response, knowing exactly why Hiei wanted to stay near the girl. "Yuusuke, I believe you and Botan will be sharing a boat with me then." The kitsune gracefully stepped into a boat, followed by the Spirit Detective and his assistant.

The ride across the lake was uneventful; with his extraordinary youkai vision, Kurama could see that the lake was rather large and deep, and based on the reflections he was seeing, there were probably some sort of magical creatures living in the lake. Several times, he thought he saw tentacles rise out of the water far in the distance, but the lanterns shed relatively little light, and did not allow him to see clearly enough to tell if they were tentacles or merely trees off in the distance.

Once they reached the dock on the other side, they were lead into through the large oak front doors. Inside, a middle aged woman, with black hair pulled into a tight bun, square glasses and dressed in black robes, and a witch's hat greeted them. "The first years and transfer students, Professor McGonagall," the elderly witch that led them said.

"Thank you, Professor Grubbly-Plank. I will take them from here." Turning to the students in front of her, she began. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes surveyed the group, undoubtedly spotting a few smudges and rumpled clothing.

"I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." [2]

Once she had exited, the students began to examine themselves, making sure their robes were straightened and faces were clean of any smudges. A few moments later, Professor McGonagall returned. "Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony's about to start. You six, the transfer students, wait in the back. You will be Sorted after the first years."

The students nervously filed into the Great Hall, past a large table decorated in green and silver. Yuusuke and the others hung back, and surveyed the scene as they awaited their turn. Professor McGonagall had taken her spot in front of the high table, next to a stool with a ratty old hat on it. Everyone in the hall had fallen silent as a rip opened up in hat and, to the Reikai Tantei's surprise, began to sing.

"_In times of old when I was new  
And Hogwarts barely started  
The founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted:  
United by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning,  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.  
"Together we will build and teach!"  
The four good friends decided  
And never did they dream that they  
Might some day be divided,  
For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?  
So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there and so can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale.  
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry is purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."  
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
With brave deeds to their name,"  
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,  
And treat them just the same."  
These differences caused little strife  
When first they came to light,  
For each of the four founders had  
A House in which they might  
Take only those they wanted, so,  
For instance, Slytherin  
Took only pure-blood wizards  
Of great cunning, just like him,  
And only those of sharpest mind  
Were taught by Ravenclaw  
While the bravest and the boldest  
Went to daring Gryffindor.  
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,  
And taught them all she knew,  
Thus, the Houses and their founders  
Retained friendships firm and true.  
So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
For several happy years,  
But then discord crept among us  
Feeding on our faults and fears.  
The Houses that, like pillars four,  
Had once held up our school,  
Now turned upon each other and,  
Divided, sought to rule.  
And for a while it seemed the school  
Must meet an early end,  
What with dueling and with fighting  
And the clash of friend on friend  
And at last there came a morning  
When old Slytherin departed  
And though the fighting then died out  
He left us quite downhearted.  
And never since the founders four  
Were whittled down to three  
Have the Houses been united  
As they once were meant to be.  
And now the Sorting Hat is here  
And you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
Because that is what I'm for,  
But this year I'll go further,  
Listen closely to my song:  
Though condemned I am to split you  
Still I worry that it's wrong,  
Though I must fulfill my duty  
And must quarter every year  
Still I wonder whether sorting  
May not bring the end I fear.  
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes  
And we must unite inside her  
Or we'll crumble from within.  
I have told you, I have warned you....  
Let the Sorting now begin."_ [3]

A stunned silence and some muttering accompanied the light applause that followed the song, _'A song warning about internal strife? Looks like things _are_ rather grim, despite what their Ministry would have them believe,'_ Kurama thought surveying the room. He made a mental note to ask about his future House mates about it. A voice spoke out to the hall and shook Kurama out of his ponderings.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." A brief pause followed as the professor unrolled the scroll. "Abercrombie, Euan!"

Kurama watched with interest as the nervous boy placed the hat on his head, and after a few moments, called out "GRYFFINDOR!" at the top of its . . . lungs? Well, it would have been lungs if it had any.

"Amanuma, Tsukihito!" A short brown haired boy walked up to the stool and sat down, like the one before him. The Japanese name caught Kurama's attention as he pondered the possibilities. Perhaps he was the son of a British mother and a Japanese father? It would certainly explain the name and the brown hair. But there was something strange about the boy; something in his aura suggested that he was more than just a regular eleven year old half-Japanese boy starting his first year at Hogwarts. Maybe it was the way the boy walked up to the stool? Or was it the strange pulse in his aura, setting him apart from all the other wizarding children's that was setting off his mental alarms? In either case, Kurama quickly made a mental note to watch the boy in the future. "Slytherin!" the hat shouted.

After watching the hat repeat this process a few more times, he lost interest and began to survey the Hall. On the wall behind the High Table, hung the coat of arms for each of the four Houses: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. In front of each of those coats of arms, were the corresponding tables, decked out in that House's colors. At the High Table sat the various staff members. A particularly old wizard with half-moon glasses and a long white beard with a wizard's hat sat in the middle; Kurama instantly recognized him as Dumbledore from his Chocolate Frog card. An empty spot next to Dumbledore indicated where Professor McGonagall would be seated, and at the far end of the table, sat a familiar face: Genkai.

Turning his gaze upward, he noticed that the Great Hall was lit by a large number of candles, all floating high above the students and staff. The ceiling, Kurama saw with delight, had been enchanted to reflect the weather of the current evening's sky: a crisp, clear Fall evening, with stars brightly shining. The kitsune noted with amusement that he could even pick out a few constellations. A drifting motion in the Great Hall caught his attention, and he realized that there were four hazy forms floating in the Hall. Upon closer examination, he realized that they were four ghosts, three men and one woman. The one hovering closest to them wore the clothes of British nobility, and had what appeared to be blood staining the front of his robes. Near the Ravenclaw table hovered a tall woman, elegant in dress. Next to the Hufflepuff table, hovered a fat man, dressed in the robes of a Friar. At the far side of the room, hovered a ghost wearing a doublet, a dashing plumed hat, and a tunic with a ruff. Kurama thought this last ghost looked particularly pompous and silly. Before he had a chance to make more observations, though, a commanding voice called his attention back to the High Table.

"As you all know, we have some new Fifth Year transfer students this year from Japan," Professor McGonagall began. "Without further ado, we will now sort them into Houses as well." Taking a short breath, she called out, "Jaganshi, Hiei!"

Hiei calmly walked up to the stool and picked up the hat. Kurama hid a smile as the short hiyoukai had some trouble shoving the hat on his head over his spiky vertical hair. Silence filled the hall as the hat, or so Kurama thought, appeared to be deep in thought. The mouth that had been shouting House names all evening long was now contorted into an expression of contemplation, as though the hat was unsure of where to place the hiyoukai. Eventually, after a long period of silence, the mouth opened once and shouted, "Slytherin!" The table decked out in green and silver applauded as Hiei removed the hat and replaced it on the stool. The Jaganshi calmly strolled over to the far end of the Slytherin table, and sat down at an empty spot. Seeing that Hiei had been Sorted into the same House as Amanuma, Kurama decided to see about letting Hiei know to keep an eye on the boy.

"Koorino, Yukina!"

The Koorime meekly walked up to the stool and placed the hat on her head. Kurama noticed quite a few blushing boys as they watched the hat sort the short ice maiden, and no one was blushing as red or as brightly as Kuwabara. Glancing over to the Slytherin table, the kitsune had to suppress a laugh as he caught the Overprotective Secret Twin Brother Death Glare of Doom Hiei was attempting to send the entire Great Hall. The Death Glare, of course, was missed by the entirety of the room, as they were too focused on the cute image of the innocent ice maiden with the hat on her head. A few moments passed, and the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" The boys at that table cheered as the girls warmly welcomed the girl to their table.

"Kuwabara, Kazuma!"

The carrot-topped human eagerly strode over to the stool and managed to balance the hat over his pompadour. Less than a minute later, the hat called out, "Gryffindor!" The red and gold table cheered loudly as they welcomed the next of the transfer students, and many scooted aside at the middle of the table to make room for the tall human teenager.

"Minamino, Shuuichi!"

All eyes turned to Kurama, as he heard a rush of muttering fill the room. Many questions of "Is that a guy or a girl?" filled the Great Hall. Kurama could not help but twitch an eyebrow as he walked up to the stool. _'What is it with these British teenagers and their inability to distinguish gender?!'_ Nonetheless, the kitsune managed to keep his face relatively impassive as he sat down and gracefully placed the hat on his head.

"_Well, well_," the hat said, _"interesting mind we have here."_

"_Ah,_" Kurama mentally replied, _"so you can talk. I was wondering how you sort these children."_

"_Now let's see, what have we got here?"_ the Sorting hat mused. _"Intelligence, oh yes, no doubt you're a regular Chessmaster type. Bravery, hard work, and a good bit of cunning in there too, I see. You really could do well in any of the Houses, but I get the feeling your pride would suffer if I were to put you into Hufflepuff. You are brave, yes, but hardly reckless. Some would say you look far too long before leaping. Slytherin would be good for you, great way to gain power."_

Kurama mentally snorted. _"I'm hardly what you'd consider power-hungry."_

"_Very true, that. And well, from the looks of things, when the chips are down, you rely more on your intellect. In that case, let it be,"_ here, the Sorting hat stopped its mental conversation to shout, "Ravenclaw!"

Taking off the hat, Kurama noted that his tie had turned blue and bronze, and the badge on his chest, which earlier showed the Hogwarts crest, changed to reflect his status as a Ravenclaw student. Cheers erupted from the girls at the blue and bronze decorated table as the youko walked over, and many at the front of the table moved aside to make room for him to sit. Once seated, Kurama mentally sighed. _'I only hope they won't start up yet _another_ Minamino Shuuichi fan club. The one at Meiou Shinritsu Gakuen was bad enough; I don't even _want_ to know what a bunch of witches can do!'_

Professor McGonagall waited for the cheers to die down before calling the next name.

"Ueno, Botan!"

Botan merrily bounced over to the stool and plopped the hat on her head. As the hat conversed with her, Botan would emphatically nod, as though agreeing with what it said. "Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted, and again, the Hufflepuff table cheered as they made room for Botan next to Yukina.

"Urameshi, Yuusuke!"

Yuusuke confidently strode over to the stool and the hat, cocky grin on his face as the hat conversed with the de facto leader of the Reikai Tantei. The grin only grew as the hat, Kurama guessed, went over some of the Japanese teen's adventures as a Spirit Detective. After a few more moments of discussion, the mouth opened for the final time that evening to shout, "Gryffindor!" The red and gold decorated table cheered as Yuusuke confidently walked over to sit opposite of Kuwabara at the table.

As Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool to move it aside, Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the High Table to stand at the podium in front of it. Clearing his voice, he spoke, "To our newcomers," here, Dumbledore spread his arms wide with a beaming smile on his face, "welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" [4]

With those words, a mix of British and Japanese food magically appeared at the tables. Helping himself to some shepherd's pie, Kurama looked up as a voice asked, "Hey, Minamino, what's it like in Japan?"

To be continued . . .

1) Ueno means upper field and Koorino means field of ice. Koorino for Yukina is self-explanatory; Ueno is in reference to the Reikai being above the Ningenkai. Or at least, that's how it appears, based on Botan flying upward to get Yuusuke to meet Koenma the first time.

2) Taken shamelessly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7.

3) Song taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm no poet!

4) Also taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.


	8. Mission Hogwarts, Start!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Kurama x Hiei

AN: Just a few clarifications (since a reviewer asked): Yuusuke-tachi have not met Kido/Yanagisawa/Kaito. I consider that sequence of events to be the beginning of the Sensui/Chapter Black arc, and thus, would have happened after where my fic began. Also, one of you has guessed (in review) who the two people I kept on mentioning in the Diagon Alley chapters were. As for why Yuusuke-tachi didn't pick up on them, the answer's simple: the two people in question were hiding their auras. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter!

Phoenix

Chapter 8: Mission Hogwarts, Start!

As the feast progressed, Harry found his thoughts straying to the transfer students: Yuusuke and Kazuma getting sorted into Gryffindor was rather predictable, given their response to Malfoy's goading on the train, but Hiei into Slytherin and Shuuichi into Ravenclaw? Granted, the short boy had a rather cold and aloof demeanor, and could not have said more than ten words to him, Ginny, and the others the entire train ride, but Harry had to wonder about what the unnaturally quiet boy kept hidden. Was he a Dark Wizard in training? Was he a Death Eater in the making? But from the way he interacted with Shuuichi, it seemed honestly unlikely. Then again, the scarlet haired boy was bit of an enigma himself, Harry noted, as he glanced over to the Ravenclaw table to see more than just a few star struck girls as the teenaged boy in question laughed at something someone said. Here was this external persona of a generally nice guy, but yet, back on the train, when Malfoy was insulting him and Ginny, Shuuichi had almost taken the comment personally and struck back with an unspoken threat. The difference between the two "Shuuichis", as it were, was disconcerting to Harry.

"Oi, Harry! Harry!" Ron called out, waving a hand in front of Harry's face. "Keep spacing out like that, mate, and you're going to miss out on dessert!"

"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, exasperated, "Is food _all_ you ever think about?" Turning to Harry she asked, "You alright?"

"It's nothing, Ginny. Nothing's wrong." He quickly helped himself to some apple pie, and slowly took a bite. Oh, how Harry would have loved to tell the entire world that _everything_ was wrong. But really, how could he feasibly make them all understand? The Ministry of Magic had taken it upon themselves to discredit him, Cedric – while by no means a close friend, but he was a good Quidditch player – was dead as a direct result of Harry's actions, and to top it all off, Voldemort was back and was probably planning some twisted evil plan to kill him. Oh yeah, nothing was wrong.

While Harry was lost in thought, moving the pie around on his plate, the table was suddenly cleared, signaling the end of the feast. Shifting his attention to the High Table, his eyes focused on Dumbledore as the Headmaster gracefully rose from his seat as though he were half his age, and strode towards the podium. Clearing his throat, he began to speak. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices.

"First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students – and a few of our older students ought to know by now too." At this, Harry noticed Ron and Hermione exchanging a secretive smile, and added his own uncomfortable smile as well.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's door.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Prof. Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Genkai, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"I would like to extend a warm welcome to our transfer students from Japan, and hope all of you will do your part in making them feel welcome here at Hogwarts. Now then, would the prefects please guide the students to the dormitories?" At this, Dumbledore gave a warm smile and stepped back from the podium, pausing to talk to Professor Genkai. Harry looked at the short old lady, remembering her from the train station earlier that day, and could not help but wonder if she was in league with Voldemort, if his influence spread that far.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Gryffindor common room was a welcoming sight to behold. A fire was crackling in the hearth, keeping the room warm, without being stuffy. The deep red furniture and plush carpet in the room reminded Harry of happier days, and he began to walk towards the staircase to the boy's dormitory, sleep beckoning to him.

He had taken no more than a few steps, though, when a hand clapped down on Harry's shoulder. "Nice place you guys got here, Potter," Yuusuke cheerfully said. "Where do we go to get our stuff?"

"Oh, hi, Yuusuke," Harry said, stifling a yawn. Harry could not help but smile, remembering how Yuusuke and Kazuma stuffed their faces at the feast earlier. "Your trunks should have been delivered up to the dorms. Since you're Fifth years, you're probably in the same dorm as me." Harry began to climb the stairs, and the two Japanese teens followed.

Opening the door to the dorm room, Harry realized that it had been magically expanded to fit another two beds. A trunk had already been placed at the foot of each bed, along with a set of night stands with a lamp on top of each of them. "You can use the night stands to store your things if you'd like," he said. "Class schedules will be passed out tomorrow morning at breakfast." Walking over to his trunk, Harry opened it to dig around for a set of pajamas and his toiletries when he hit his hand on a wrapped object: Sirius's gift. Hurriedly finding the pajamas he was looking for, Harry quickly returned the gift to his trunk and turned to the transfer students. He could afford to open the gift later. "I'm going to the bathroom now; I can show you where they are."

"Sure," Yuusuke replied, grabbing a few things to take with him. Kazuma followed shortly after. Going back down the stairs, Harry stopped at the first floor and opened the door. Facing them was a long row of sinks, a dozen in total, along with a single pane mirror stretching the entire length of the wall. To their right, was a row of toilet stalls, and to their left, was a row a shower stalls. "Whoa, this place is awesome!" Yuusuke exclaimed as he hurried to check out the place. "This is tons better than the old hag's temple!"

"Old . . . hag?" Harry asked, looking at Kazuma.

"Oh, he means Genkai," Kazuma replied. "Her temple had showers installed, but the ones for student use had only cold water." Harry noticed the much taller teen shiver as though remembering how cold the water in question was.

A much needed warm shower later, Harry walked back into the room to see Seamus and Dean already asleep, with Neville tending to some strange plant on top of his night stand, and Ron lounging on the bed, already changed into his pajamas. "Hey Ron," Harry quietly greeted. Ron looked up at the sound of his name being called.

"Where are the new guys?"

"They're just brushing their teeth in the bathroom," Harry replied, laying his towel out to dry on the far end of his bed. "What do you think of them?"

"Yuusuke and Kazuma seem a bit strange, but nice enough," Ron replied with a yawn. Lying back on his pillow, Ron mumbled a sleepy, "Good night, Harry."

"Night Ron," Harry replied. Harry decided lie in bed and wait for the new guys to return, but a combination of the comfortable bed and warm blankets lulled him to sleep long before either Japanese teenager returned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry awoke with a start, spiteful and angry words from echoed in his head, each spoken in a perfectly angry replica of Cedric's voice. _You secretly wanted this, didn't you, Harry? You wanted me dead so you could have her. You _wanted_ the glory for yourself! Don't try to fool me. I know what you _really_ wanted that night._

And while he had shouted back at darkness in his dream that he had not wanted Cedric dead, that he had _not_ wanted the glory for himself, that he had sincerely wanted them to share the glory of the victory for Hogwarts together. But a small part of him, a part that Harry suddenly found himself to be _very_ afraid of, was morbidly cheering that there was now no obstacle for him to date Cho, like he had wanted to ever since he met her. That is, if he played his cards right.

A sudden (and loud!) snore shook him out of his thoughts. _Kazuma_, Harry thought with a small smile. The Japanese teen had tossed off his covers in the middle of the night and was now sleeping on top of them, arms and legs sprawled out all over the bed. The snoring continued, loud enough to rival a freight train. Secretly, Harry was glad for the loud snoring, as it kept disrupting his thoughts and kept the darkest and most well hidden parts of him at bay long enough to fall into a fitful sleep once more.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama awoke the next morning to a strange bed and an unfamiliar room. Blinking a few times, the memories from the prior night came back to him, and he remembered he was in the Fifth Year boy's dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower. Pulling aside his bronze-trimmed navy blue covers, he got out of bed and walked over to his trunk to pull out his uniform and wand. As he stretched and yawned, he managed to look out the window at the slowly brightening sky. The sun was slowly crawling its way above the mountains in the distance; Kurama estimated it was probably around seven in the morning. After changing, he walked down into mostly empty common room and out of the portrait hole towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

The kitsune had to stifle a self-satisfied smirk as conversation notably died down as he entered the Great Hall. His keen hearing caught various snippets of comments from girls, mostly Fourth Years and older, as they wondered what sort of girl he went for. (Did he like tall girls? Short ones? Pretty and demure? Energetic and tomboy-ish?) Several more pondered what his favorite color was (red), when his birthday is (November 12th for his human half, November 22nd for his youko half), what his astrological sign was (Scorpio as a human, Sagittarius as a youko), and what kinds of foods he liked (while he liked all sorts of human food, he really missed roasted Makai rabbit). After a few minutes of such contemplation, the teenage female population of Hogwarts as a whole sighed in near-unison as Kurama took a seat at the Ravenclaw table next to one of the girls. The sighs of admiration rapidly turned into glares of barely hidden jealousy at the poor girl who Kurama just happened to sit next to. Mentally, the kitsune let out an exasperated sigh. He really did not mean to have such an effect on the female populace. Honest!

The boys in the room, on the other hand, were shooting the former youko glares that would have killed a lesser being at fifty paces. Many had tried to trip Kurama as he walked past them, but given his prior experience at Meiou Shinritsu Gakuen, they failed miserably in their attempts. Their jealousy was entirely understandable; here was this transfer student who, quite literally overnight, became the singularly most sought after boy by all the girls in Hogwarts. And there was nothing the boys could do to make themselves think they even stood a chance against him. So, they had to settle, once Kurama had taken a seat and grabbed a piece of toast, on glaring at him. Secretly, though, Kurama wondered what they would think if he were to tell them that he had absolutely no interest in any of the girls here – a point a few Slytherin boys were discussing amongst themselves, although they quickly quieted. No doubt, Kurama surmised, due to Hiei taking notice.

Thinking of the object of his affections caused Kurama to scan the Slytherin table. At the end farthest away from the High Table, he spotted a startlingly white starburst amongst a head of black. Feigning interest in the mundane conversation going on around him – it mostly consisted of nearby girls trying to get his attention – Kurama observed Hiei. As usual, the fire youkai's face was blank; Hiei was never one for expressing his emotions in public. Closer observation, though, revealed a slight twitching of Hiei's left eyebrow; it was mostly obscured by his customary white bandanna. A Slytherin shifted to one side, and Kurama noted, with a hint of amusement, that Malfoy was the current cause of Hiei's annoyance. No doubt Malfoy was making overtures to get Hiei "on his side".

As the youko buttered a piece of toast, a loud ruckus echoed into the Great Hall over the sounds of breakfast. Two male voices, one rather screechy, the other more brash, echoed through the doorway. The owners of those voices crashed through the doors of the Great Hall just as the Heads of Houses rose from their places at the High Table to hand out the class schedules. As the two perpetrators entered the Great Hall, followed by an exasperated Hermione, Ron, and Harry, Professor McGonagall's immediately began charging towards the fighting duo, with a look on her face that could not be mistaken for anything other than Not Pleased.

Fixing the boisterous teenage boys with a glare of steely disapproval, she demanded, "Urameshi, Kuwabara, just _what_ do you think you two are doing?"

As Yuusuke opened his mouth to answer, Professor McGonagall cut him off. "Your robes are a mess, your tie is too loose, and your shirt is untucked. The same applies to you two, Kuwabara. Five points each from Gryffindor." A few of the older Gryffindor students opened their mouths to protest as a small snigger echoed from the Slytherin table, but one look at the Professor's face was enough to let them know that her decision was Not For Discussion. The two Japanese teens took the opportunity to slink off, only to be noticed by the stern Professor.

"No slouching!" she commanded, her voice as sharp as Kurama's Rose Whip cracking on a stone floor. Once the two boys sat down, along with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, the Heads of Houses resumed handing out schedules.

Professor Flitwick floated by, handing Kurama his schedule, as the sounds of wings echoed through the room. Owls and eagles swooped in, each holding packages of all shapes and sizes. One particularly large eagle came in with a large package for Malfoy, who had a smug look on his face as he unwrapped what was undoubtedly goodies from home. A brown barn owl swooped down to land at the table, a small sign around its neck that read "The Daily Prophet, 6 knuts per copy" in brightly colored lettering as it paraded from one end to the other. One pouch was tied to its leg, and another on its back. Thinking it would be beneficial to get up to date on the latest goings-on of the Wizarding world, Kurama fished out the requisite money, and the owl proffered its leg-bound pouch for copper coins. Once the money was placed into the coin pouch, the bag on the owl's back opened, and the top of a newspaper protruded from the top. Pulling it out and unfolding the paper, Kurama began survey the paper, fascinated by the moving images. Even though he had made a point of reading the paper ever since their arrival a few days ago, the moving images caught his eyes, and he could not resist looking at them.

'_Hm, another article denying Voldemort's return,'_ he thought as he surveyed the article. It said nothing new, although the person interviewed, a Doloris Umbridge, clearly had a sharp dislike for Harry Potter given the statements she was quoted as having said. The kitsune really did not understand the need for the wizards to inflate and exaggerate Voldemort's power by referring to him as You-Know-Who, and really, it seemed rather childish. But then again, he considered, not everyone had the opportunity to live a life as unnaturally long as his, and even fewer had faced the dangers that he had. And he supposed he could give the Dark Wizard _some_ credit for being able to spread fear amongst the Wizarding populace; Kurama had taken the opportunity to read the Reikai's files on the crimes Voldemort had perpetrated at the peak of his power. Still, he thought, the wiser decision would be to pay heed to Dumbledore and Harry's warning and to launch an investigation into the matter. At least, that would have been Kurama's choice of action in the matter, if he were the Minster of Magic. But alas, he was not, and he quickly glanced through the other pages of the paper. There was little else of interest, although an article about a missing ancient runes researcher and his team of curse breakers disappearing caught his eye. They were last seen a week ago as they left on their journey to investigate Stonehenge.

Folding up his paper, Kurama poured himself a cup of tea, along with some milk and sugar. As he began blowing on the hot drink, he felt something brushing up the side of his leg. Looking down, he noticed it was Shiroko, the small albino kitten Hiei had decided to buy, sending him a warm good morning and not the girl he was sitting next to. The girl had been sending him flirty glances and smiles, obviously trying to get his attention, and he would not have put it past her to try to brush her arm against his to create an excuse for her to talk to him. Bending over, Kurama picked up the small kitten, much to the delight of the teenage female populace in the room and the consternation of the teenage male populace. Several adoring sighs reached his ears, and the kitsune thoroughly ignored those as he noticed the small message tucked into a small tube attached to the kitten's collar. He pulled out the note, and removed his tea cup from the saucer. Pouring out a little milk into the saucer, he began to read the note, quite sure of the writer.

As he unfolded the piece of parchment, he noticed that the script, to someone who was unfamiliar with the language, could have been easily mistaken for chicken scratch. Kurama noted with satisfaction that even the translator earring he wore was unable to translate the Makai Thieves' code into little more than garbled nonsense. The kitsune, of course, had no trouble reading the note at all. "Kurama," it read, "Malfoy is a moron and Amanuma seems normal. I will continue to monitor both boys, as Malfoy's family has known connections to the Death Eaters and Voldemort, as do most members of this House. Castle security is non-existent; I can break out of here with both hands tied behind my back." Kurama had to stifle a small laugh, as he knew after their meeting on the train and in Diagon Alley that Malfoy would be an insufferable pain. The youko also agreed with Hiei's assessment of castle security; Kurama had been expecting wards at the bare minimum, but given the general lack of barriers keeping him, Hiei, and Yukina out, Kurama doubted there were any present. That was something he and Hiei would have to fix.

Shiroko suddenly jumped off of his lap as the other students began standing; no doubt classes were about to begin. Glancing down at his schedule, he noted he had double periods of Charms and Transfiguration in the morning, followed by lunch, and then Arithmancy and Herbology – to his delight, Herbology would be held with the Slytherins. All in all, the schedule hardly looked difficult, and he managed to catch Hiei's eye, to let the hiyoukai know that the message had been received, before standing to leave the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was rather displeased that his first class of the new had to be History of Magic. While there was nothing inherently _wrong_ with the class, Professor Binns had the uncanny ability to put just about any student in class to sleep. Since Harry had sleeping rather poorly lately, haunted by his guilt-ridden nightmares, he was finding it even harder than before to resist the urge to nap through the class and get the notes from Hermione later. And he would too . . . if Ron had not been so vocally ridiculing one of the new transfer students. Or, as the impression any other person would get from listening to Harry's redheaded friend, the singular transfer student.

After all, this particular transfer student was also a redhead. _And_ he had managed to capture Hermione's attention, something that irked Ron to no end, never mind the British redhead could not put a finger on the reason when asked. Harry, of course, had obligingly listened to his friend's complaints, many of which included comparisons to their ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart. The spectacled teen, on the other hand, suspected there was more to the scarlet headed Japanese teen than the pretty boy surface; the train ride had told him as much.

A sudden motion in the front of the room caught Harry's attention, and he snapped out of his thoughts to see Hermione jerk up and blush for seemingly no reason. And suddenly, it occurred to Harry that while he was lost in thought, the usual sound of a single quill fiercely scribbling down notes was noticeably absent from the quiet classroom. That meant only one thing: Hermione was not taking notes today, and Harry had a feeling he knew exactly why. Mentally slapping his face a few times, he tried to pay more attention to the ever-constant monotone of Professor Binns' voice. Obviously, if Hermione was not paying attention, he was _not_ going to be able to get notes from her.

But as he tried so very hard to write the important parts of what the ghostly professor was saying, he found his mind drifting again. It really was quite difficult to pay attention.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Death," she had nearly shrieked at the beginning of class, "surrounds you! You are possessed by evil, and your death is imminent! I see it now!"

And since then, Hiei had been silently working on his self restraint. Professor Trelawney had opted to start the class with a prediction of death. _His_ death, to be precise. As far as Hiei was concerned, if he was going to die, it would be of boredom as he listened to the decidedly quack professor chatter on about dream interpretation. Of _course _he was surrounded by death. _He_ was the Forbidden Child, the master of the Kokuryuuha, a Jaganshi, and an expert swordsman. What else would he be surrounded by? Cute kittens? He was about to scoff at the notion; until he realized that he _was_ the owner of a white kitten. But one kitten does not make for being surrounded by them. Shiroko was awfully cute though.

A few Slytherin girls had opted to give him pitying looks when the "prediction" was announced, not that Hiei had cared or known which ones. He had very quickly decided that the entirety of the Slytherin House consisted of a bunch of petty human teenagers who were supposedly "power-hungry and ambitious" but were really little more than a bunch of hormonal human teenagers clinging to each other in the face of the school's general distaste for them.

Not that he could blame the rest of the school. Five minutes with their ringleader – what was his name again? Oh right, Malfoy – was enough to tell the fire youkai _everything_ he needed to know about the people he was going to live with for the rest of the school year. For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past five minutes, Hiei reminded himself to think of something to get that annoying blonde kid to stop talking to him, without having to place himself in a position where the boy would think the hiyoukai was on the boy's side. Jaganshi Hiei was on no one's side but his own! Well . . . ok, maybe not. There _was_ a certain redheaded youko-turned-human to consider.

He had noticed that the quack professor had suddenly stopped talking, and her decidedly large eyes, magnified by the glasses she wore, had fixated on him. He stared back, unshaken by her enhanced stare. "Mr. Jaganshi, why have you not done as I asked?" she dramatically exclaimed, sweeping her arms, giving her a bat-like appearance as her sleeves flapped with her movements. "You have stopped listening; it is as I fear, your death is imminent!" She continued to stare at him, frozen with her arms widespread, as though she were expecting the hiyoukai to drop dead at that very moment.

Her overdramatic exclamations did little beyond causing his left eyebrow to twitch and sweat to drop from the back of his head (it _was_ awfully warm and stuffy in that classroom) and as he closed his eyes to calm himself before he did something foolish – like setting the entire classroom _on fire_. After a few brief moments of the staring contest, she looked away, and repeated her instructions.

"You will find on your tables copies of The Dream Oracle by Inigo Imago. Read the introduction, and break into pairs to interpret each other's dreams."

_This_, he thought, as he pulled a copy of the book to him, _is going to be a _long_ year._

Mercifully, the class ended shortly after, and the annoyed fire youkai jumped to his feet, barely catching the homework assignment the bug-eyed professor was assigning to them as he moved for the door. As he shoved open the door to exit the classroom, a thought suddenly occurred to him: What if the rest of the Professors at this human wizard school were as equally incompetent?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama was carefully replicating the "swish and flick" motion Flitwick had demonstrated earlier that accompanied the Silencing Charm. Really, it was little different than controlling his Rose Whip; all he needed to do was to use less force so he would not send his wand soaring into the nearest wall. The kitsune was also silently grateful no one seemed to notice the silver sheath on his wand. Clearly, the troubles required to make a wand useable to non-human races was an obscure piece of wand lore.

Looking down at his bullfrog, which did little but to stare balefully back at the youko, Kurama repeated the motion once more. "Silencio!" The frog blinked its huge eyes at the kitsune as the volume of its croaking diminished. With a small smile, Kurama repeated the spell once more. This time, the frog stopped croaking, and an exciting Professor Flitwick rushed over.

"Good work there, Minamino," the Professor praised. "Let's see if you can get it to quiet up again." With a swish of the tiny professor's wand, the frog began croaking once more.

Swish, flick. "Silencio!" The frog stopped croaking once more, although its mouth continued to bulge and contract as usual. If it realized it could no longer make a sound, it did not appear to notice. Or care.

"Very good, Minamino!" the tiny professor exclaimed. "Five points to Ravenclaw for your good work! Now see here, everyone, the manner in which Minamino moves his wand as he casts the spell. Minamino, repeat the motion for the class." Kurama calmly complied, replicating the simple motion. "See that slight pause there at the top of that first motion? _That_ is the proper amount of time to stop before continuing." Looking up at the clock in the back of the classroom, the professor clapped his hands together. "Now then, the class period is almost over, so everyone put your frogs away. We will continue working with them next week. For homework, I want twelve inches on the proper technique on casting a Silencing Charm, along with what can go wrong if the motions are improperly executed."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Great, just great," Ron muttered as they walked towards the dungeons, "Double Potions with Slytherin." Harry could not help but mentally echo Ron's sentiment. Potions were hardly the scarred teen's forte; the fact they were being taught by a grudge-holding, greasy-haired, hook-nosed, House-biased, cranky excuse of a Professor simply made it worse.

Hermione, on the other hand, paid them no heed, and it had not escaped Harry's notice that the normally academically-focused brunette was distracted. So much so, in fact, that she had only taken notes on half of Binns' boring drone. For a moment, Harry considered asking her, but those thoughts were shoved to the back of his mind as he saw Hiei, with a positively irritated look on his face. The type of irritated that spelled a serious maiming, at the very least, to the next person who talked to him.

Not that it deterred Yuusuke any. The minute he saw the short Slytherin, Yuusuke trotted over and gave Hiei a hearty clap on the shoulder. "Hey Hiei, how's it going?"

Yuusuke's friendliness was greeted with a glare that clearly said, "How do you _think_ I'm doing, moron?"

"Is . . . he _always_ like this?" Harry uncertainly questioned Kazuma. Harry, along with Hermione and Ron, had spent a fair amount of time talking with Yuusuke and Kazuma about life in Japan at breakfast. The two Japanese teens had taken the opportunity to talk about their delinquent adventures and rivalries, along with occasional anecdotes about their friends.

Kazuma nodded. "Yep. It's beyond me _why_ K-Shuuichi spends so much time with him."

"Well, if it isn't the Oaf," Hiei disdainfully greeted, irritation dripping from his voice. "How unfortunate that we have a class together. _Do_ try to avoid blowing something up."

At this, the dungeon door swung open, and a group of nervous First Years – Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, from their badges - stepped out. Harry mentally sighed; no doubt Snape had managed to spook them with his introductory speech and manner. Not that Harry would have expected any less from his least favorite professor. The Fifth Years trudged in; as usual, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat next to each other. Much to Harry's surprise, Yuusuke sat on what was normally the "Slytherin" side of the room. Kazuma sat down on Yuusuke's other side. Hiei merely sent them both a withering glare before turning away with a scoff.

A few moments later, the usual swishing of cloth notified the students of Professor Snape's entrance. For a moment, he stood, surveying the class with his cold black eyes, before they focused onto a trio of students. To Harry's surprise, it was not on him, Hermione, and Ron, but Hiei, Yuusuke, and Kazuma.

"So, we seem to have a few new students," he observed, his voice quiet. He regarded them for a moment longer before speaking in a louder voice. "At the end of the year, you will be taking your OWLs. I refuse to accept any student who receives anything less than an Exceeds Expectations into my Sixth Year class." At this, he paused, surveying the class once more as though he was measuring their worth. "I expect most of you will not make it."

Harry noticed a huff coming from Hermione. No doubt she would continue, despite Snape's nastiness towards the Gryffindors. Harry, on the other hand, was more than relieved to hear that he could drop Potions next year. He had had more than his fill of the bat-like professor's snide remarks, and would be more than happy to spend the rest of his days at Hogwarts without having to take a class with him.

"To start, we will begin with a Draught of Peace, a tricky OWL standard," Snape lectured, pacing the front of the classroom. "Turn to page 345 of your textbook, and read the instructions. The ingredients you need are at the front of the room. I expect a corked sample of your potion by the end of class."

With that, the professor's robes swished once more as he turned on his heel to return to his office. Harry sighed as he read the list of ingredients. This was going to be a long year.

To be continued . . .

* * *

AN: To all returning readers: Thank you for adding this fic to your Alert and Favorites lists. To those who reviewed, an even bigger thanks. Getting those alerts in my email inbox reminded me that I have readers out there who are interested in reading this story. Unfortunately, updates will be a bit random for a while; I'm currently taking 20 units worth of classes and working about ten hours a week on top of that. It's left me stretched a lot thinner than I would like to be, so I don't really have too much time to work on this. I will, however, try to update at least once every 2 weeks for the time being. And to all of my readers: Thank you for reading. And review if you can. Even a simple "I like this story so far" goes a long way in encouraging me to keep working on it.


	9. First Day of Classes, Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Kurama x Hiei

AN: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I'd thought after not updating for three months, most of you would've forgotten about this story. Imagine how surprised I was when I saw how many people had read the story after I updated! And sorry for not updating sooner; I had to go visit my grandmother over Spring Break since she's living alone now that my grandfather passed away. So, without further ado, here is Chapter 9.

* * *

Chapter 9: First Day of Class, Part 1

"You cannot pass an OWL," Professor McGonagall calmly began, "without serious application, practice and study. I see no reasons why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work. So… today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL.

"Now then, who can tell me the incantation for the Vanishing Spell?" A few moments pause, and then a hand went up. "Yes, Ms. Patil?"

"_Evanesco_, Professor."

"Very good, five points to Ravenclaw." Kurama quickly wrote down the incantation, along with the proper pronunciation in hiragana. It would not do to forget how to use a gem such as this. Imagine all the things he could hide!

"Vanishing Spells," the professor continued, "do not require you to say the object you intend on vanishing after the incantation. However, you must concentrate on the object you wish to vanish, or the spell will fail. For example," here, she pulled out her wand from her robes. Holding it about five centimeters above the snail, she quickly moved it in a counterclockwise circle, with an upward swish at the end. "_Evanesco!_" The snail disappeared without leaving behind more than a small slime trail. "As you can see, I didn't say '_Evanesco_ snail', I simply said '_Evanesco_' and _focused_ on the snail. Any questions so far?"

Kurama thought for a moment, before a question occurred to him, and raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Minamino?"

"Professor, how do you make a vanished object reappear?"

"Good question. Vanished objects don't just disappear into thin air; they are reduced to small particles and then released into the air. Therefore, we would simply have to recollect those particles in order to make the object reappear. We will get around to studying Appearing Spells later in the year.

"Now then, if there are no more questions, I would like each of you to get a snail and begin working on vanishing them."

Kurama added the information regarding Appearing Spells into his notes, and rose from his seat to get a snail.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry scowled at his potion. Snape had been quite right when he said that the Draught of Peace was a tricky potion to brew. Right now, according to the book, the potion should be a thick glossy green brew that smelled of all things calm and wonderful. What he had, however, was closer to a black paste and that smelled rather foul. And unless Harry's nose was lying, he was not the _only_ one with that problem. Hiei and Hermione's potions looked vaguely like the book's description, although both were a bit watery. A glance over at Yuusuke and Kuwabara told him the two Japanese teens had screwed up their potion even worse than Harry's – theirs was closer to coal lumps. Much to Harry's delight, Malfoy was having similar problems with his potion: his was a watery black mess.

Which meant, of course, that when Snape came strolling out of his office, he should not be choosing Harry to pick on. Or so Harry hoped. In a different universe, perhaps that would have been the way things worked. In this universe though, no such luck, as Snape stormed out of his office, nose upturned as though his dungeon was now covered by a fine layer of dung. Not that anyone could blame the Potions professor; the dungeon smelled rather foul from the multiple poorly made Draughts of Peace. Stopping right in front of Harry, he sneered, "Potter, just _what_ is that supposed to be?"

"The Draught of Peace," Harry replied, tense. He knew the potion had not turned out right, not by a long shot.

"This, Potter, is a Draught of Peace, alright. Of _eternal_ peace! Anyone who drinks this will be dead within a minute! You added in the moonstone too early, and you obviously did not shake the hellebore syrup properly before you added it. Did the book not say you needed to be extra precise with the ingredients?"

Yuusuke chose this unfortunate moment to intercede on Harry's behalf. "How can you expect us to get it right if you don't even bother to teach us?"

The room froze as Yuusuke's statement hung in the air. True, Snape had stormed out of the dungeon as soon as he left his instructions. And it had been rather atypical for the eternally grouchy professor, who normally at least stated the necessary warnings before leaving the students to brew their potions. But none of them would have spoken up about it: Snape in a bad mood was not someone to cross, regardless of which House you belonged to. A sickening bloop from one of the failed potions in the room led to a release of noxious purple gas, which lazily drifted past Snape's sneering face.

"Clearly, all of you can't read simple directions out of a book! I want twenty-four inches on the Draught of Peace along with what can go wrong during brewing and what potion you will get as a result. Clear your disastrous potions from your cauldrons and start over again. There is just enough time left for you to try again."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After an hour of waving his wand, shouting "_Evanesco!"_ and concentrating on the snail, Kurama had had little luck beyond making the eyestalks disappear. Still, progress was progress, Kurama had to admit. At that point, Professor McGonagall came by to examine his progress.

"That's a good start you have there, Minamino," the stern professor said. "Demonstrate your technique for me."

Kurama performed the counter-clockwise whirl as he had seen demonstrated earlier along with the incantation. "Your form is impeccable, perhaps you should try reaching out with your power more."

Taking a deep breath, Kurama took a deep breath, and tapped into a little more of his power. His next try was far more successful; he had managed to make most of the shell disappear except for the mottled pattern of the shell, so his snail now looked more like a slug with a weird floating mottled pattern hovering over it. Disturbing, but progress was progress.

At that point, Professor McGonagall clapped her hands. "Alright, I can see many of you have made progress in making parts of the snail disappear. Given that this spell requires heavy concentration, I will end class here for today. For Thursday, I would like all of you to have ten inches on the Vanishing Spell, and the various counter spells that can be used against it. I also recommend practicing for half an hour every night between now and Thursday on a quill."

Kurama packed up his things, writing a reminder in his notes to practice the spell every night. As he brought the snail back to the cage, he noticed he had half an hour before lunch. Perhaps now would be the perfect opportunity to take a peek around the grounds.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hiei looked down at his potion. It was far closer to what the book had said the potion should look at this stage of the brewing process. There was, of course, no way of telling if it smelled right; the earlier failures had caused his nose to shut down in self defense. And while he thought the Spirit Detective had a point when he spoke up against the ornery professor, Hiei believed it would have been wiser to say nothing. But then since when was Urameshi Yuusuke one to let grouchy dragons lie? No, if anything, he would be one to continue agitating an angry dragon just because he _could_.

Carefully stirring the potion counterclockwise six times, he added in the moonstone he made sure to be extra finely powdered. With a poof, a pale blue ring of smoke arose from his cauldron, turning his draught an eye searing bright pink. Eyeing the book, he read to himself, "Allow the potion to simmer for exactly thirty seconds, and then add the syrup of hellebore drop wise, until you have added exactly a fluid dram. Afterwards, the potion should turn a thick deep green."

Mentally, he counted off the time that had passed in the time it took him to read the instructions, and waited another ten seconds. As he began to add in the syrup drop wise, an explosion from the other side of the room caught his attention, and he lost count, "Shit!" he muttered under his breath, as his potion went from the proper deep green to black and began to smell rather foul. At least he knew he had done everything right up _until_ that point.

Of course, this went unnoticed as Neville Longbottom's cauldron began to spew forth thick orange goo, much like a volcano in mid-eruption. "Longbottom!" Professor Snape shouted. "Just _what_ did you do this time?"

"I-I-I'm not s-s-s-s-sure, s-s-sir," Longbottom stuttered out. It was pretty clear to Hiei that the poor boy was moments away from losing bladder control. The potion was making a strange hissing noise as it made contact with the table, and from Hiei's vantage point, appeared to be well on its way to eating _through_ the table.

"This," Snape hissed, leaning over the table so that he was looming over the frightened boy, "is _not_ a Draught of Peace. It's not even close to a Draught of Eternal Sleep, which is what _most_ of you appeared to have made," he stated. He paused, waving to the rest of the class before continuing, "As a matter of fact, I have no idea what sort of magical mishap of a potion you have managed to make here." At this point, the cauldron burped, and sent a massive wave of orange goo upwards and onto the enraged professor's face. The potion rapidly began steaming, although whether that was due to Snape's red - almost purple - furious face or the potion no one was sure.

A pair of snickers rang out into the room as Urameshi and Kuwabara both lost control. A mixture of horror and amusement crossed Hiei's face as the two teens lost all control and began rolling on the floor, laughing at the furious Professor – had it been another Professor with a better sense of humor, it _would_ have been quite funny. No one was laughing, however, when Snape turned on the laughing teens.

"I fail to see what is so humorous," he snapped. "Fifty points from Gryffindor _each_, for disrespecting a professor. And if anyone objects, it will be _another_ fifty points for each person who protests. Longbottom, detentions with me for a week; you will be scrubbing first year cauldrons, along with an additional assignment: thirty inches on the importance of following instructions _precisely_ when brewing a potion, to be handed into me at the beginning of the next class." With a wave of his wand, the orange goo disappeared from his hair and clothing. Of course, no one mentioned that his _face_ was now the same shade of bright neon orange as the potion in the places where it had splashed on his face. "Clean up this mess."

Hiei grimaced. It was clear that the Longbottom boy was outright terrified of Snape, and that no one was quite willing to stand up for him. The fire youkai considered for a moment, but stopped when he remembered he was a Slytherin. The rival House to the Gryffindors. The ones who picked on Longbottom when they could, and laughed at him behind his back. And, quite simply, much like their House mascot, a nest of backstabbing snakes. It would be in his best interest to not do anything, although he did manage to catch the Spirit Detective's eye. Yuusuke nodded and grinned in response, clearly getting the message Hiei had wanted to send: Look after the kid; he did not deserve a scolding of that severity from Snape for messing up in class. As the fire youkai turned back to his ruined potion, he looked over to the rest of the Slytherins.

Malfoy had wasted no time in imitating Longbottom's frightened facial expression with glee. "I-I-I'm n-n-not s-s-sure!" he mockingly exclaimed, his words interspersed by snickering. Hiei shook his head in response, not bothering to join in on the laughter. "What's wrong, Jaganshi?" Malfoy nastily asked. "Feeling sowwy for widdle Longbottom?" he continued, in baby speech.

Hiei tried to ignore the platinum blonde teen's comments, but after listening to the egocentric, spoiled brat brag for hours on end about picking on the Gryffindors and why he was superior, and how the Dark Lord would fix everything – needless to say, the fire youkai's patience with the boy had just about run dry.

_Don't torch the human. Don't torch the human. Don't torch the human,_ he chanted in his mind, as though the mantra would help him exert _something_ resembling self-control. The fire youkai clenched his fists as he tried to clamp down on his rising youki. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuusuke and Kuwabara tense as they sensed the impending doom. They tried to say something to stop Malfoy, who obviously could not sense what was happening, but the Slytherin blonde had continued to talk, heedless of the situation. After all, Crabbe and Goyle were there. No doubt the boy was expecting them to protect him.

"Awww, maybe you just ought to go give him a hug," Malfoy continued, ignoring the warning signs. But then again, Malfoy was a barely trained wizard, and even trained wizards, unless they were specifically trained or were particularly talented in the field, were unable to sense youki. After all, Hiei would not be either, if it were not a crucial life-or-death skill in the Makai. "Or better yet, lend him your shoulder to cry on!"

That had been the last straw; his patience had already been wearing thin after Divination, and the last thing he needed was Malfoy talking down to him. _No one_ ever talked down to Hiei, Master of the Jagan and Forbidden Child of the Koorime – let alone make fun of him - _without_ being put in their place! In less than a blink, Hiei had closed the distance between him and the insolent teen, punched him, and returned to his original location. He made sure not to kill the boy, but at the very least made sure that Malfoy would be feeling it in the morning. Hiei knew that Yuusuke and Kuwabara knew damn well what had happened, and – "Potter! What is the meaning of this?"

Damn. Of course with the kind of luck the Reikai Tantei tended to attract, Snape would have overheard and seen everything. Obviously, the Potions Professor had not noticed who did it, otherwise Hiei would have been the one the ornery Professor named. A small mercy, if anything, but why assume _Harry_ was the guilty one?

"Sir, I-"

"I _know_ you did it, Potter. Fifty points from Gryffindor, and detention with me for a month. I expect you to show up at precisely 5:30 tonight to scrub out cauldrons, along with Longbottom. _By hand_. That is all, class dismissed."

As he left the dungeon, Hiei absently wondered what Snape's reaction would be the next time the short tempered Professor looked into a mirror.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Kurama entered the Great Hall from his brief exploration of the grounds – he was particularly interested the Forbidden Forest – he noticed a crowd of Gryffindors exclaiming about something at one end of their table. And if the Gryffindors were this excited over something, the kitsune had learned, it meant the Slytherins were involved in some way. A glance at the Slytherin table showed the glaringly obvious absence of Malfoy and his two flunkies Crabbe and Goyle. At one end, a pug faced girl was crying her eyes out (Kurama caught something along the lines of "P-poor Draco, getting attacked by Potter in Potions!") while her friends consoled her.

As Kurama took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, one of the guys leaned over. Terry Boot, if Kurama remembered correctly. "Hey, Minamino, did you hear? Potter managed to nail Malfoy with a spell that no one heard or saw in Potions today! _And_ he did it without a wand!"

_A spell no one heard or saw? And without pulling out his wand? But I thought . . . _Feigning ignorance, Kurama asked, "That's possible?"

"Anything's possible with Potter," another Ravenclaw replied. "I heard that Malfoy was knocked unconscious and had to be taken to the infirmary by his two flunkies. Nasty black eye."

_Wait a minute . . . If Malfoy and Harry are in the same class . . . that means . . . _Kurama quickly stole a glance over at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, there was an irate-looking Hiei angrily stabbing his lunch as he ate. "So, do we know what this spell is? I thought all spells had to be spoken aloud, required a wand, and typically had some sort of visual effect?"

"Well, we do learn how to cast spells without saying the name of the spell Sixth Year," Terry said. "And besides, like Mandy says, anything's possible with Potter. How else does he manage to evade He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named all the time?"

_Somehow, I doubt it's Harry's fault. More likely _Hiei_ if no one saw what happened._ "That's amazing," Kurama replied. _Time to have a little chat with him. Tonight. Talking to him now would be suspicious, but maybe I can talk to Yuusuke or Kuwabara just fine._

Helping himself to a sandwich and orange juice, Kurama quickly ate his lunch. _Perhaps I should have aimed for Slytherin instead. It'd certainly make things less . . . volatile_.

Fifteen minutes later, he had finished his sandwich and casually walked over to the Gryffindor table, where Yuusuke and Kuwabara sat, greedily stuffing their faces. "'llo Ku-Shuuichi!" Yuusuke greeted. Kurama had given a sharp glare when Yuusuke had nearly addressed him as Kurama instead of "Shuuichi".

"So, I heard there was some excitement in Potions today," Kurama exasperatedly said as he took a seat across from them. "Care to tell me what happened? Everyone says it's Harry. I thought I'd get a second opinion." Here, Kurama pointedly removed his earring, and gestured to Kuwabara and Yuusuke to remove their necklaces so they could continue in Japanese.

"Oh well, you know how Hiei has a short temper. Neville," here, Yuusuke paused to point at a nervous looking Fifth Year boy, "that's him right there, by the way. He screwed up his potion and caused it to explode. Snape came out, started lecturing the poor kid about messing up. I wish I could've given that Snape a beating right then and there!" Yuusuke punctuated his statement by dropping his sandwich and punching his left palm. "The bastard just writes up the potion we're making in class and then just tells us to follow the instructions in the book! Doesn't even give a demonstration or anything! Anyway, Neville screwed up his potion, and Snape starts picking on him. Once Snape was done, Malfoy picks right up where he left off, and starts making fun of the poor kid. Then, when Hiei didn't join in, Malfoy starts in on Hiei, except, well, _you_ know Hiei." Yuusuke let the rest of the statement hang.

Kurama just sighed and nodded in response. "So this unseen, unheard, wandless spell . . . was Hiei."

"Except the weird part is, Snape flat out assumes it's Harry who did it!" Kuwabara chimed in. "Although from what we hear from the rest of the Gryffindors, Snape has it in for Harry."

"Well, at least there's three of us in that class in case he tries something," Kurama murmured. He thought for a moment, before feeling something brush against his leg. Shiroko. Looking down, he saw that there was a small tube tied to her collar. She happily meowed as Kurama poured a little cream for her onto a teacup saucer as he took the small scroll from the tube. Again, as before, the note was written in Makai Thieves' code.

_Kurama,_

_I won't apologize for what I did. No one saw. I'm sure. I made sure not to kill the boy. He had it coming, for being such a spoiled, arrogant piece of shit._

_Hiei_

Chuckling, Kurama tucked the note away into his robes before turning back to Kuwabara, who was now playing with the kitten, and Yuusuke, who had gone back to his lunch. "Looks like Hiei knows he screwed up. He thinks no one saw, but for the moment, as cruel as it may be to Potter-kun, we'll have to let them think he's at fault. Can't risk blowing our cover."

Yuusuke answered with a pained grimace, but Kurama cut off the Spirit Detective before he could continue. "I know it's unfair," here, Kurama turned deadly serious. "But it's life or death for Hiei here. I'm still partially human, and I will detect as human for most intents and purposes. But Hiei is a pureblood youkai. Just remember, when the wizards discover that not-so-minor detail, he'll be outright killed. We're strong, Yuusuke, but not strong enough. There's spells these wizards can cast that we don't stand a chance against. And odds are, because we're associated with him, we'll be executed right alongside Hiei. Now, I don't know about you, but I have no intentions of taking a permanent vacation in the Reikai anytime soon. And yes, Kuwabara-kun. They'll do the same if they catch Yukina using her talents. She knew what she was getting into when she accepted this mission." At this point, Kurama put a fake smile on his face and replaced his earring while giving Yuusuke and Kuwabara pointed looks.

He waved goodbye to the pair as the tables were cleared and the clocks struck one o'clock. Time for his afternoon classes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Their conversation, though, had not gone totally unnoticed. Harry had noticed when the scarlet haired Ravenclaw transfer came over to talk to Yuusuke and Kazuma. He had _also _noticed that the Ravenclaw had specifically removed what Harry could only assume was his translator device – an earring. While the scarred teen could not understand Japanese – he wished he knew a translation spell – he knew what they were talking about was of great secrecy and importance. Either that or the Ravenclaw was threatening them, but that seemed unlikely. Minamino _was_ a Ravenclaw after all, not a Slytherin. But whatever it was, the scarlet haired boy had used that same deadly calm voice he had used on Malfoy back on the Hogwarts Express.

Suspicious? Definitely. Maybe he could convince Hermione to look up a translation spell or two. In the meantime, he should keep an eye on Jaganshi. Harry was pretty sure he saw the short Slytherin transfer blur just a little before Malfoy went flying back . . .

To be continued . . .

* * *

AN: Like? Dislike? Was someone OOC? I try very hard to keep everyone in character. Drop me a review! I love hearing from my readers!


	10. First Day of Classes, Part 3

, Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings and Hiei x Kurama

AN: Over 6000 hits already? I love you guys! I realized that I've been forgetting about putting in the warning with every chapter. Given the scene I have about halfway through the chapter, I thought I should bring it back. And a thank you to: those who reviewed, those who added this story onto their alerts list, those who added this story onto their favorites list, and everyone who read this story, but most of all, my beta. In addition to screening my chapters and pointing things out to me, he also adds a few ideas here and there into this little crossover world I've created. And now, onto the new chapter!

Chapter 10: First Day of Class, Part 3

Harry walked up through the trap door into the heavily incensed classroom as he had ever since his Third Year. The room was stuffy as ever, and the scarred teen could feel his eyes watering and his stomach do a few flip-flops as his nose adjusted to the strongly perfumed room. As he had done for the past two years, Harry sat himself down on a pouf nearest to the door, where he was less likely to either fall asleep or faint from the lack of fresh air in the room.

"Oi, Harry," Yuusuke whispered, "is this classroom _always_ this stuffy? It's even worse than a girl's room!"

"Pretty much," Ron replied. "Just wait 'til she sees Harry. You haven't seen anything yet."

As if on cue, Trelawney seemingly appeared out of nowhere and strode in front of the class. "Good day," she greeted with her usual misty voice. "And welcome back to Divination." Pausing for dramatic effect, or so it seemed, she continued, "I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see you all have returned to Hogwarts safely – as, of course, I knew you would." Glancing around the classroom, she spotted Yuusuke and Kazuma. "I see we have a few new members joining us in our journey in Seeing beyond the here and now and into the future. I shall see whether either of you are in possession of the Sight as the year progresses, as this is one subject where books will only get you so far." Ron stifled a laugh as he remembered the batty professor repeating the same thing two years earlier, much to Hermione's dismay and frustration.

Sweeping an arm to indicate the books set on the table, she instructed, "You will find on the stables before you copies of _The Dream Oracle_, by Inigo Imago. Dream interpretation is a most important means of divining the future and one that may very probably be tested in your OWL. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the remotest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing eye, certificates and grades matter very little. However, the Headmaster likes you to site the examination, so…" Her voice trailed away delicately, leaving them all in no doubt that Professor Trelawney considered her subject above such sordid matters as examinations. "Turn, please, to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use _The Dream Oracle_ to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on."

Opening the book, Harry sighed. Did he really even need a book to tell him what his recent dreams were saying?

Hiei listlessly practiced the spell on the snail as Professor McGonagall circulated throughout the room. He was bored. He found the exercise in making the snail disappear pointless – he would have happily done the exercise if it involved a golden bracelet, but then again, if he needed to make a golden bracelet "disappear", he had other simpler means of accomplishing the same feat - but opted not to point it out. He did not need to attract attention; he found that attracting attention from the others often meant attracting attention from Malfoy as well. And that was one spoiled human brat _this_ fire youkai did _not_ want to talk to. Briefly, Hiei wondered how much power would be needed to make the platinum blonde boy to burst into flame and burn to ashes where he lay in the infirmary – Hiei had heard from another Slytherin that Malfoy had been carried up there by his two flunkies. But alas, the Reikai had rules against doing stuff like that, and Hiei had to settle for coming up with ways to avoid the kid.

"Having some difficulty, Jaganshi?" Hiei glanced up to see McGonagall standing in front of his desk. He had realized, during the course of her lecture, that while she was the Head of House for Gryffindor, she did genuinely care for teaching her students, unlike Snape. Most Slytherins, though, paid her little to no attention, choosing to whisper amongst themselves or pass notes in her class.

"Hn. _Evanesco._" The spots on the snail's shell disappeared.

"You've made some progress, Jaganshi, but try putting forth some more power into it."

_Yes, and if I fed more power into the spell, I'd cook it, and you'd have escargot_, Hiei griped, remembering the time Kurama had dragged him off to a French restaurant in Japan. Smiling a little at the memory, the fire youkai tapped into a little more power before trying again. "_Evanesco!"_ The snail seemed to twitch uncomfortably as its shell disappeared, leaving its innards to unceremoniously drop onto the table. Hiei frowned; that had _not_ been the effect he had wanted. The girl at the table next to him – Hiei had not bothered to remember her name, nor did he care to – looked positively green with the result. And not from jealousy either.

Professor McGonagall swished her wand, bringing the shell back into existence. "I suppose that's _some_ progress."

Kurama carefully tucked away the charts that Professor Vector had handed out during class. She had instructed them to first convert their names into the Greek alphabet, along with their birthdays into the Greek calendar, and analyze them for homework. As he exited the classroom, he checked his schedule. He had a break next, followed by double Herbology with the Slytherins. He smiled, happy to have a class with Hiei, and went towards the Transfiguration classroom. While it would have been an impromptu meeting, Kurama seriously doubted the fire youkai would mind.

As he arrived, he saw the Slytherins exiting the classroom, along with Professor McGonagall shouting reminders regarding homework ("Twelve inches on the Vanishing Spell, including the origins of the incantation and proper wand movements!") same as his, noted the absence of Malfoy and his two flunkies in the group, and finally, at the end, Hiei, who had his book bag slung over one shoulder as he nonchalantly strolled out.

"What brings you here?"

Kurama mock pouted. "Now, is that any way to greet a friend?"

"Hn. Don't you have a class to get to?"

"Nope!" the kitsune cheerfully replied. "I have a free period, and then our Houses have Herbology together afterwards."

Hiei scoffed in reply, feigning disinterest. The former youko saw through his lover's act easily, and sent him a _look_. Dropping his voice a little – Kurama most _certainly_ did not want his next comment overheard - he asked, "Want to go to the roof?"

"Whatever suits you."

Hiei looked around from his perch, Kurama seated below, back facing the stoic fire demon, on the edge. They had taken care to choose a location that would make it difficult for them to be spotted by others looking through windows or looking up from the grounds below. The late summer breeze was refreshing, as it brought scents of flowers, and played with the strands of the kitsune's scarlet hair. As though sensing Hiei's gaze on him, Kurama turned around, and smiled. A true smile, Hiei noted, unlike the other ones he gave to maintain appearances around the humans. "Isn't it much better up here, away from all the children?"

Hiei did not reply, but gave a slight smile instead, redirecting his gaze over the left, where, he assumed anyway, lay the Forbidden Forest. In front of him was a strangely animated tree, and further in the distance was a wall, and what appeared to be a village of sorts based on the few rooftops he could spot. To his right was the lake they had traveled across yesterday night where a few rather large tentacles were sticking out – Hiei assumed whatever creature those belonged to were harmless, as it was allowed to live on school grounds. Behind him was a stadium of sorts, with six hoops mounted on poles, each of varying heights, three on each end. The grounds were certainly expansive, and it would be difficult keeping it safe; Hiei knew there would be no way he could possibly travel around them without giving away his natural talents.

"Tell me, Kurama, why are we protecting them?"

"Because not all of them are bad," the scarlet haired youkai replied. "Or at least, that's what I want to believe."

"Like that Harry Potter boy?"

"Yes. Although I suspect you won't get much of a chance to talk with him, given the House rivalries."

"I hate Malfoy. He wants me to be his lackey. I am _nobody's_ lackey."

The fox just laughed an infuriating, all knowing laugh. "I know, Hiei, I know."

Hiei just shot the kitsune an irritated look, and Kurama released a few more chuckles before stopping. "Try to get whatever information you can? From what I've heard at the dinner table, as it were, the Slytherins are the ones who have ties to this Voldemort we're supposed to be protecting Harry Potter from. And Malfoy's family is rumored to be members of the Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers."

"I am _not_ going to join that organization. Not with a stupid name like that." But Hiei knew, at the very least, he would have to grit his teeth and attempt to befriend that Malfoy brat. He sighed and muttered, "The things I do in the name of probation."

"Mmm," Kurama murmured, standing. He took a few steps to approach Hiei before his shoe slipped on the shingles. Hiei's lightning fast reflexes took over before the fire youkai gave much thought; one hand shot out to grab the spire while the other grasped Kurama's outstretched hand.

"Stupid fox," Hiei grunted as he pulled the kitsune up. "Just what would you have done without me?"

"Why, I wouldn't be up here without you, for one," came the reply.

And all too briefly, Hiei's vision was obscured by flowing scarlet hair as a pair of soft lips touched his own.

Harry walked through the hallways, down towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Ron and Hermione followed, discussing about something Harry did not really hear, as he was lost in his thoughts. In his first year, the room always smelled strongly of garlic. In his second year, the room was covered in posters and pictures of their incompetent sham of a glory-claiming memory charm specialist. In his third year, the room always had a tank or a cage containing some special magical creature they were to learn about that week or month. In his fourth, the room had spy and lie detectors everywhere. Harry opened the door, and was surprised. The room was sparsely decorated, although there were a few posters detailing martial arts positions in the room. On the chalkboard was diagram: there was a circle, with an ellipse above and below it. Strangely enough, for a Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, there was surprisingly little on things he associated with the Dark Arts.

"Um, Harry?" Hermione's voice came from behind him. "You're blocking the way."

"Oh right," he mumbled, entering to take a seat. "Sorry."

As the spectacled teen took a seat in the middle of the classroom, Ron put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay, Harry? You seem out of it lately," the redhead quietly said. Even Fred and George have noticed, and Hermione and Ginny are worried about you."

"It's nothing," Harry replied with a small smile. It was nice knowing there were people who cared and believed in him, contrary to how the Dursleys treated him and what the Prophet's libelous articles said. "Just a little short on sleep is all."

The rest of the class filtered in and Professor Genkai stepped out of her office mug of tea in one hand. Most of the class strained to see her as she set the tea cup down, although many were surprised when she jumped and landed on the teacher's desk. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Your Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, has filled me in on your education thus far, and I must say it is highly sub par." She gave a pointed look to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, before adding, "For most of you." Letting her words sink in, she continued. "I have no doubt that you've had a few . . . good instructors in the past, and a few bad ones to go with it. And while you know your counter curses and protective spells, and have even been shown the Unforgivable Curses, it's not enough. You lack real experience in what to do in a real fight." Lavender's hand shot up. "Yes, Miss Brown?"

"But Professor, Professor Moody _used_ the Imperius Curse on us, and we had a dueling club our second year!"

"And what if I were to do this?" The elderly professor took out her wand in one smooth motion. "_Expelliarmus_!" Instantly, the quill in Lavender's hand flew out of her grasp. Professor Genkai caught it before walking over to Lavender to return it to the surprised girl.

"But, Professor, I-"

"No excuses, girl. No saying you weren't ready, I hadn't announced it, I didn't give you fair warning. Because _that_ is what it's really like in a real fight. Imagine the consequences had I not been your professor but a Dark Wizard with intent to maim, or worse, kill? I would not have used something as weak as a Disarming Spell." Wand still in hand, she looked at each student in the class, her gaze boring into each of them, analyzing them. Harry took a glance around, and noticed most of the other students were shocked. Would he have been able to dodge that had she aimed the spell at him?

"_Stupefy!"_ A red beam of light shot out from the professor's wand towards the back of the room; Harry heard a loud bang and he whirled his head around to see Yuusuke in a defensive crouch in the middle of the aisle, and the chair the Japanese teen formerly occupied tipped on its back. "_That's_ more like it," she declared.

"Psh, you'll have to try harder, Grandma." The informal title for the elderly professor surprised the other Gryffindors, but Professor Genkai took no notice. "What _was_ that spell anyway?"

The tension suddenly emptied from the classroom as everyone burst into laughter. Even Harry, despite his melancholy mood, could not avoid it. As the laughter died down, the pink-haired professor asked the class, "Can anyone answer Yuusuke?"

Hermione's hand shot up, with everyone else following after, excluding Yuusuke. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom?"

"I-I-It's the Stunning Spell, ma'am," Neville replied, voice slightly shaky.

"Five points to Gryffindor." Hopping down from the desk, she began to pace the front of the classroom. "This year, then, we will begin with a variety of physical exercises. The first hour of every class will cover the mythology of the universe. The second hour will be dedicated to physical training and practice. The key thing to remember is that all spells take time to reach you. But at the same time, dodging won't allow you to win a duel. You will eventually tire, and lose. Now then, I have acquired permission from the Headmaster to use the Quidditch field as a practice ground of sorts for my class. If you will follow me, we will head there now, and I will test your reflexes."

Kurama noted, with a hint of amusement, that the Fanged Geranium they were currently working on repotting would be purring, if it had vocal cords. Professor Sprout had described them as being very difficult to work with, and that the repotting process required quick reflexes and good organization. The plants themselves were used in a few potions; namely ones that helped heal bites and neutralize poisons found in the saliva of various magical creatures. As far as Kurama was concerned, though, there were better ones he could use.

While Hiei had been mixing the dragon dung and the soil together, Kurama had carefully removed dead leaves from the plant. The plant happily nuzzled the kitsune's hand in thanks after the task was completed; it had helped that Kurama fed it a little youki to start with. That did not stop the little fanged plant from trying to bite Hiei, although a little admonishment of the verbal and spiritual kind fixed that problem pretty quickly. The new pot ready, Kurama was ready to tip the plant out of its old pot when a voice interrupted him.

"Interesting; I don't think I've ever seen a Fanged Geranium so docile before," Professor Sprout said, circulating past their work bench.

Kurama politely smiled, and replied, "I suppose I do have a bit of a green thumb. Give them some attention and respect, and they'll respond in kind." Off his left, the kitsune caught Hiei rolling his eyes in exasperation. The portly Professor, though, beamed when she heard Kurama's reply. She had already been surprised at their choice to work with each other – in all her years teaching at Hogwarts, she never had a non-Slytherin voluntarily partner up with one – and just how seamlessly they worked together!

"Very nicely mixed soil there, and a very neatly trimmed plant," she observed. "Ten points each to Ravenclaw and Slytherin," she announced, "for good plant care skills and excellent inter-House teamwork." She continued on her way, checking the progress of the other students.

Not for the first time, Harry was glad he was Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Years of searching the field for the tiny Snitch had honed his vision to spot small objects, and it was certainly working in his favor now. Professor Genkai's idea of a reflex test involved flinging small semi-hard paint pellets at her students. It went without saying that they were _not_ allowed to use spells to deflect them. And to make matters worse, the elderly professor appeared to be positively _enjoying_ herself. Dark Wizard or just a strange sense of humor? Harry certainly was not sure. After all, a Dark Wizard would do more than just fling hard paint pellets at them.

The goal for the test was to see how many paint pellets the student could dodge before getting hit by one. Lavender was slow to react, and was hit on the first try. Professor Genkai, clearly displeased by that result, forced the poor girl to keep trying until she could dodge one. By the time the elderly professor was done, the girl was in near tears. Whether it was from the humiliation of failing to perform such a task in front of the class or from the pain of the paint pellets hitting her, Harry was unsure. Seamus faired a little better, having managed to dodge two before being hit by a third. Hermione succeeded in dodging the initial one before getting hit in the arm by the second. Neville managed to avoid the first one by tripping over his own robes, and was then hit by several more as the elderly Professor chose to hit him with a few extra while explaining to the class why taking care to be alert and aware of the surroundings of a fight was important. Parvati faired no better than Lavender, and the two girls were currently huddled off to one side, no doubt jointly venting their frustrations.

Harry, though, had managed to dodge three so far; while they were smaller and faster than the Bludgers he was used to dodging for Quidditch, they did not try and follow him around after he dodged. Suddenly, he noticed the Professor flicking her wand and he rolled to his right, neatly dodging another pellet as he ended his roll on his feet. A few more motions from his peripheral vision, and he blindly tumbled further to the right as he heard three more pellets impact the ground and cheers from the other students. Harry saw a fourth flick, and he rolled right . . . only to feel something small and hard impact his knee.

"Good reflexes there, Potter," the short Professor said, "but try not to be so predictable next time. Five points to Gryffindor. I can see why they made you Seeker. Mr. Thomas? You're next."

Dean walked forward, and jumped backwards as the first pellet flew through the air. A second one came, and he was late in moving and the pellet hit his leg. "A little slow there on the second one, Mr. Thomas. Mr. Weasley?"

Ron uneasily walked up, eyes on the Professor's wand. A good start, Harry noted, as the wand would give away her intentions. One pellet thudded to the ground as Ron went to the right, and then a second as the redhead jumped back. A third, though, hit him squarely in the head as he tried to roll forward in vain. "Nice try though," the professor said, before motioning Yuusuke forward.

"Hehe," the Japanese teen laughed, springing to his feet. "Hit me with your best shot, Grandma."

Professor Genkai merely sent the boy a deadpan stare. "Just remember you asked for it, dimwit." She barely finished the sentence before she flicked her wand to send not one, but three paint pellets in Yuusuke's direction. Yuusuke moved, and Harry could have sworn Yuusuke moved at the exact same time the pellets started moving. Soon, a veritable storm of pellets were raining down on Yuusuke; Harry had long since lost count of the number Yuusuke had dodged and the numbers that were streaking towards the teen.

"A-are they always like that?" Ron nervously asked. Harry vaguely noted Kuwabara was standing next to them in his peripheral vision.

"Oh yeah, always. Even when he was being trained by her in Japan. Their banter is just their way of expressing their affection for each other."

"Oh yeah? Just who is sayi- Owowowowowowowowowow! Dammit, grandma, you didn't have to interrupt me like that!" The class burst out into laughter once more as Yuusuke, indignant at Kuwabara's remark, stopped dodging to express his sentiment. Of course, this meant that his back got plastered by all of the paintballs.

"Kuwabara, you're next." Harry noticed there was a gleam in the old woman's eyes as Yuusuke continued to shout his displeasure at being hailed by speeding pellets.

Kuwabara was far less impressive than Yuusuke; while he dodged quite a few, his taller frame and longer limbs seemed to make it far more difficult to dodge everything. As the pellets flew faster, the orange-haired boy had more and more difficult to keep up; eventually, one grazed his arm, and the professor stopped, seemingly pleased with the results.

"I hope all of you were observing while I tested these two dimwits. I fully expect all of you to be able to perform as well as they do by the end of the year. Now then, I want fifteen laps around the field, running laps, mind you, and then you are excused."

Hiei dourly sat at the Slytherin table, viciously stabbing and slicing his dinner as he ate. First off, he missed Japanese food. Secondly, even more than Japanese food, he missed the kitsune's cooking. Third and most importantly, he hated sitting with this veritable nest of snakes. Classes were, in general, rather laughable, but if nothing else, Charms and Transfiguration should allow him to learn a few new tricks. Potions was pointless, as anything the so-called Potions master could come up, Hiei was sure Kurama had something better.

Glancing around the room, he attempted to ignore Malfoy – when was that boy going to get the message that Hiei was decidedly Not Interested in talking to him? – and spotted Yukina and Botan at the Hufflepuff table. Yukina was happily engaged in a conversation with a nearby housemate along with Botan, and several of the boys seemed genuinely interested in the pair. Inwardly, Hiei smiled.

"So, you're interested in Koorino, are you?" Malfoy asked with a smirk on his face. "Not the first time I've caught you staring at her."

Hiei laughed. As if! No, no, his romantic interests most _certainly_ lay elsewhere. Not that he was going to tell _Malfoy_ of all people, that. Hell, not even the other two members of Team Urameshi knew. "Not at all, Malfoy."

"Sure you don't."

"Hn." Even without Kurama in the picture, Hiei was sure he would never fall for Yukina. She was too pure for his bloodied hands; if anything, that was the sole reason he tolerated the Oaf courting her. The carrot top, while clumsy, was honest and chivalrous in his pursuit, and above all else, his hands were free of murder and larceny.

Before Malfoy could continue, a group of students dragged themselves into the Great Hall and over to the Gryffindor table. All of them looked worse for the wear, and the rest of the students quickly took note and began whispering amongst themselves; most of their talk surrounding Harry. They were splattered with a few splotches of paint, and all of them looked bedraggled as though they had each run five miles before coming in. At the rear of that group were Yuusuke and Kuwabara, followed by Genkai. _So they must have just come in from Genkai's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. No doubt_, Hiei mused, _the old master must have given them a work over_. They could use it, if Koenma's files on Voldemort were anything to go by.

Following the master's walk to the High Table, Hiei noticed the rather conspicuous absence of Dumbledore and Snape. He had been under the impression the staff ate with the students during meal times; perhaps he had been mistaken? Setting that question aside for now, Hiei noted the sun was slowly setting. Catching Kurama's eye, Hiei grabbed his book bag to leave. They had a patrol to set up.

Kurama leapt up onto the shingles, quietly landing next to Hiei.

"What kept you?"

"Not all of us have terrible House mates, you know."

"Hn. So where to tonight?"

"Let's start with the forest. From what I hear, we'll stick out too much in the village."

"Oh?"

"They go about once a month, as a special excursion of sorts. And there isn't another wizarding school this side of the English Channel. Find anything interesting?"

"Plenty. Either this Voldemort's an arrogant fool, or he's an incompetent idiot. No wards, no defenses, nothing beyond a teleport block on the grounds."

"And you know this . . . how?"

A tap on the now-warded Jagan was his answer. "I can use it for other things beyond turning people into marionettes and controlling Makai flame dragons, you know."

"Didn't think you'd wanted to take that risk," the kitsune replied. "Shall we get going? As romantic as talking while the moon and stars rise, I doubt that's what you want to do right now. Forest?"

"I was about to ask the same thing. We've got a job to do."

"Hai, hai," Kurama replied with a chuckle. Taking care to avoid being spotted by a stray student in the halls, the pair leapt down onto the grass before speeding off into the forest leaving little more than a pair of blurs behind.

Harry collapsed into a chair by the fireplace as Ron came down with his chess set. As usual, Snape had managed to make detention with him absolutely unbearable. The evening started with them scrubbing cauldrons by hand for an hour; given it was only the first day of classes, Harry had to wonder if Snape had purposefully cast some spell to make clean cauldrons grimy just so he and Neville would clean them. After that, while Neville continued to clean, Snape had interrogated Harry, insistent on figuring out just what spell he had used in Potions to harm Malfoy. Of course, since Harry had done nothing to Malfoy – he had insisted as much throughout the entire interrogation, only to have Snape conclude he was lying and extend his detentions out to two months – he could not tell Snape anything.

"Game of chess, Harry?" Harry looked up to see Ron with a grin on his face.

Figuring his homework could wait for another night, he accepted. "Sure."

Taking a pawn in each hand, one white and one black, Ron shuffled them before holding his fists out. "Left or right?"

Without so much as a glance, Harry decided, "Left."

Ron opened his fist, where a white pawn lay in his hand. "White it is," the redhead said, handing the pawn over to Harry. "So, how was detention with Snape?"

"The usual, although I have to wonder if he made those cauldrons grimy just so me and Neville had something to scrub. It's only the first day of class! Just where does he get those dirty cauldrons from?" Harry sighed. "And then he insists I'm lying because I won't tell him what spell I used in class today – I didn't even do anything! So now I have another month's worth of detentions." Ron gave his friend a look of disbelief, but before he could say anything, another voice interrupted them.

"Oh hey, what's this?" Harry looked up to see Yuusuke standing next to the board.

"Wizard's Chess," Harry replied. "It's nothing like the normal one."

"They don't look like chess pieces . . ." Kazuma began.

"Oh! This is different from Shogi," Hermione cut in. Harry gave her a confused look, and she clarified, "Japanese chess."

Harry noted, though, the two Japanese transfers became far more interested once they realized the pieces would move themselves at the vocal command of the players. The scarred teen could not avoid grinning when the two boys became ecstatic that the pieces would attack each other, shattering the opposition to pieces.

As the game drew to a close – Harry lost, but he had to admit Ron was a far better player than he was – Hermione looked at the clock. Ten minutes to curfew. "Ron, we need to go! Prefect duty!"

"Oh, right!" Ron replied, shuffling out of the room. Harry hid a small frown; it still stung that he had not been made prefect. But still, at least he had Yuusuke and Kazuma to keep him company.

"Want to learn how to play?" Harry offered. "I'm not very good, but I can at least teach you the basics."

"Sure!"

"_Are you _trying_ to test my patience? I was under the impression you and your men could handle it." A hand petted Harry's head, and he lazily lifted it, flicking his tongue out to taste the air; there was no mistaking the anger and annoyance permeating from his master._

_The other man, tall and slender with short black hair passively looked back. "Just a few set backs, nothing to get worried about. It would appear the Reikai has sealed up this area rather well. All it means we need to find an individual with the means to get around the barrier."_

"_And just where would be able to find such an individual?"_

"_I have a hunch."_

"_Just remember who you're talking to, Mr. Shinobu."_

"_Of course, how can I possibly forget?" A mocking smile graced Shinobu's face._

Harry awoke with a start, scar searing as the remnants of irritation faded from him. Voldemort's irritation, no doubt. Taking out his wand, he quickly found a spare piece of parchment and a quill, wasting no time to scribble down what he remembered of the dream. Quietly slipping out of bed, he rummaged in his trunk until he found the Invisibility Cloak his father left for him. Pulling it over his head, he checked to make sure it covered him completely before slipping out from his bed.

To be continued . . .

AN: As always, leave me a review! I know the pacing is a little slow for the moment, but I really wanted to get into the details of their interactions, as part of Harry Potter is Hogwarts and the teachers. See you all next chapter!


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